Vignette Eight - Changes
by jellybean49
Summary: Life is Full of Changes in Hope Valley. Are you ready?
1. Chapter 1

_**Dear Readers: This is 8**_ _ **th**_ _ **of my vignettes. They go in sequential order, but each one has a different unique theme. I hope you have fun reading all of them.**_

 _" **Jack and Elizabeth Vignette One"**_

 _" **Vignette Two – The Cold Winter" (Jack and Elizabeth cope with the rough winter)**_

 _" **Vignette Three – The Test: Don't Fail Me Now" – (It's fun and romantic)**_

 **"Vignette Four – Gypsy Woes" (The most light-hearted in my mind)**

 **"Vignette Five - Blind Faith" (Drama, Suspense, New Friends, and powerful love.)**

 **"Vignette Six - Wedding Dust" –(The romance of getting married and the hours afterwards)**

 **"Vignette Seven - The Rules of being a Wife." (Jack and Elizabeth's first weeks as husband and wife)**

 _ **(Another writer has chosen to write a story and call it a vignette. It is not written by me and I have nothing to do with it. All my vignettes are by jellybean49.)**_

 **Vignette 8 - Changes**

 **Chapter 1 - Awakenings**

The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the sound of a single bird chirping nearby in the otherwise quiet world.

The second thing she noticed was the blood in her mouth. She moved her tongue around and tried to spit, but she could barely open her mouth. The blood seeped out the side of her slightly parted lips and dripped down her cheek.

The third thing she noticed was that part of her body was cold while the other part was warm. Even in her semi-conscious state, she knew that wasn't normal.

 _I have to open my eyes_ , she thought. The process was slow. First she formed the thought. Then she urged her body to act on it.

When she finally opened her eyes and looked around, her head still sideways on the ground, she realized the reason for her body's differing temperatures. She was lying in the snow. The bright sun was warming the top part of body, while the cold snow was chilling her underside. Her body felt sore but she couldn't remember why.

 _If I can sit up, I won't be so cold._

Elizabeth tried to use her right hand to push herself up but the pain seared through her. If she wasn't so injured, she would have screamed.

Instead, she passed out.

* * *

"I was wondering when you were going to come get your pie", Abigail said pleasantly to Jack when he walked in the Café.

"Pie? What pie would that be?", he asked curiously. He took off his hat, thinking that pie sounded pretty good after a long day.

"The apple pie Elizabeth wanted for tonight. She said she'd come by and get it, but I haven't seen her yet. Didn't she send you?"

"No. I just got back in town. She must still be at school. I'll get the pie from you", Jack said casually as he headed across the room.

"No, she had already finished up at the school. She was going riding." Abigail said,

"Riding? When? Where? ". Jack frowned as he thought about Elizabeth riding by herself.

"About two hours ago. It was so beautiful and sunny after the days of snow that she wanted to get some fresh air. She was going to try and find a chrysalis or two to teach her students about butterflies. "

"It's almost dark. Are you sure she hasn't come back to town yet?", Jack asked.

"I haven't seen her. The livery would know if her horse was still out," Abigail answered as she hurried to finish getting the Café tables ready for the dinner crowd.

* * *

"She left, I don't know, maybe two hours ago. Said she was going riding. Took off heading west", Mr. Bricks, the livery man, responded when Jack asked about his wife.

"I thought she'd be back by now. It's going to get real cold when the sun sets", he added as he brought Jack's horse out of the stall and quickly handed Jack a lantern.

Jack quickly traveled west. As he rounded each turn on the trails and crossed over hills, he expected to see Elizabeth riding towards him, smiling at him for having gone out to look for her. He imagined that Elizabeth would laugh at the worry on his face and chide him for not thinking that she could handle herself.

When he stopped at the top of a small hill and looked down on the valley in the setting sun, Jack wasn't sure if he would hug Elizabeth or berate her for making him worry so much. _She knows better than to be out riding this late._

* * *

When Elizabeth opened her eyes again, her mind tried to figure out why she couldn't see very well. She remembered it had been light and warm earlier. _Why wasn't it that way now?,_ she wondered in confusion _._ After contemplating the situation, she realized she must have been asleep for a while. She tried to figure out how much time had passed but her mind couldn't handle the complexities of that. All she knew was that it was cold and she was in the dark.

She had no idea why.

It was too much work to keep her eyes open, so she closed them again and let her mind go blank.

When Elizabeth woke up for the third time, she was shivering. She moved her hands slightly, feeling the wetness of her mittens. She foggily remembered what Jack had taught her. Always stay dry in the cold. _I need to get dry._

She struggled to comprehend her surroundings. She heard an owl hooting _. That must be what woke me._ _I have to get up. I have to get warm._

She looked upwards and saw the full moon. She surprisingly remembered that her right hand hurt earlier, so she used her elbow to push off the ground. She gritted her teeth and then finally screamed in agony as she sat up. Her stomach turned from the pain and she vomited into the snow. Using her left hand, she wiped her mouth.

 _I need to start a fire._

Her bag was laying two feet from her on the snow. She knew she needed to reach it but it seemed so far away.

By the time she finally crawled to her bag, her face was streaked with tears.

Elizabeth pulled out her matches and her journal. It was a new one, started just last week. She was glad it wasn't full of her writings but realized that even if it were, she would have hesitated only for a second before burning it. A small fire wouldn't provide much warmth, but it would hopefully help illuminate more of her surroundings, somewhat visible by the moonlight on the snow.

It took four matches before the journal lit. Her trembling fingers had dropped the first three matches in the snow. Elizabeth knew the small fire wouldn't last long so she looked around quickly.

A tree.

An old tree, the bottom half rotted and hollowed out, was ten feet away. _Jack would know what kind of tree it is. He can identify any tree in the forest, s_ he thought, her mind getting temporarily sidetracked. Elizabeth didn't care what kind it was. All she cared was that that it was at least a foot and a half in diameter and hollowed.

It took Elizabeth five minutes of dragging herself and crawling to reach the tree and she was panting from pain by the time she leaned against it.

She reached her good hand into the tree and began tearing off pieces of dried wood, putting them in a small pile outside the opening. _It's a wonder the tree hasn't fallen down by now ,it's so rotten,_ she thought.

As her hand felt around inside the large dark opening, she was ecstatic to find that an animal had left behind a nest. She pulled it out and placed it under the pile of tree bark. _Kindling_. That's what Jack had called it.

When the pain and cold wouldn't allow her to do anymore, she crawled backwards into the cavity, crying out in agony as she twisted her body to fit inside. She was pretty sure she had broken her wrist and a few ribs. Her head and her ankle both throbbed. She started sobbing as she struck the matches and set the nest on fire. Reaching into her bag, she found her students report cards, which she had planned on working on tonight after dinner. She crumbled each one into a tight ball and added them to the fire.

* * *

Jack had searched for more than an hour without luck. When he hadn't returned to town, Abigail had sent Lee and Frank out to look for him and Elizabeth. The men found Jack three miles from town as he was heading back.

"Is she back?", he asked frantically. When they shook their heads, Jack turned his horse around and headed out again.

* * *

Before the fire died out, it had dried Elizabeth's mittens. She fell asleep cold, but dry.

Two hours later, it started to sleet.

Elizabeth woke up to the sound of the icy rain hitting the ground, and realized that she wouldn't leave the protection of the tree until the sleet stopped. She was getting cold again so she blew on her fingers in a hopeless attempt to warm them. She had two matches left, but she knew that she'd never find anything dry to burn. She had to wait for Jack to find her or hope the sun came out in the morning and she could start making her way back to town. For the first time, she wondered what had happened to her horse.

* * *

Lee and Frank forced Jack to turn back to town. The sleet made visibility impossible. They wouldn't even be able to hear Elizabeth if she yelled over the sound of the ice hitting the ground.

The men rode past the Thornton cottage on their way to town. The windows, which should have been aglow with lanterns and logs burning in the fireplace, were dark.

 _Maybe she's waiting for me at the Cafe_ , Jack thought hopefully, as they made their way through the brutal weather. When he saw the light of a lantern coming at him, Jack breathed a sigh of relief, but it was only temporary. Bill, riding on his horse through the sleet, had had no luck finding Elizabeth.

Jack's face dropped again when he saw that Elizabeth's borrowed horse wasn't back at the livery.

Abigail took one look at the men when they entered the Café, and hurried to get them warm drinks and blankets. She ushered them into the kitchen and had them sit by the stove as she gathered dry clothes for them.

Jack walked back and forth across the Cafe, going to the door every five minutes to see if the sleet had stopped until Abigail finally convinced him that he needed to sit down and rest so he could look for Elizabeth again at first light. When he wouldn't eat, Abigail again reminded Jack that he needed to be strong. He quickly ate the stew she offered and then pushed the bowl away, dropping his head into his hands.

* * *

Elizabeth was getting hungry. She hadn't eaten since yesterday at lunch, and she had thrown that up hours ago. She was thirsty too. But more than anything, she felt the pain. Her head. Her ribs. Her wrist. Her ankle. Her leg. She winced when she touched her face with her left hand. She wasn't sure if she had a black eye, but her cheek and eye felt swollen.

 _Jack won't see me if I'm in here._

 _I've got to move now that it's morning._

Slowly she began to shift her limbs. After hours of being in the same position, her legs were cramped. She clenched her mouth and refused to scream as she inched her way out of the tree.

Looking around, she realized she was at the bottom of a steep hill. Slowly she started to move up the slope, grabbing onto nearby tree trunks to pull herself up. She realized that needed to get somewhere that Jack could find her. There was little doubt in her mind that she wouldn't make it back to town by herself.

She walked bent over, moving slowly. She knew it was necessary to breath, but every time she inhaled deeply, the pain in her ribs made her wince. She noticed blood on her coat, but she didn't know from what injury it came. She kept moving upwards, dragging her swollen ankle.

"Elizabeth!"

Her head jerked up.

She heard him.

It was Jack.

She opened her mouth and tried to yell. Elizabeth's eyes widened in shock when she realized that her voice was no louder than a hoarse whisper.

"Elizabeth!" There were more voices now.

Swallowing what little spit she had in her mouth, she tried again. "Jack." It was stronger, but not strong enough.

Grabbing a handful of snow, Elizabeth wet her mouth. Steadying herself against a tree, she yelled frantically over and over again. When she couldn't yell any more, she crumpled to the ground.

When Jack looked down from the top of the hill, he saw her bright pink coat against the white snow.

Elizabeth grimaced in pain when Jack touched her.

"Don't try to move", Jack instructed as he opened his vacuum flask and held it to her lips, gently tilting it so that the warm tea dripped into her mouth.

She felt someone put a blanket around her.

"I've got you sweetie" were the last words she heard before she passed out again.

* * *

The doctor tried to hide his frustration with Jack but Jack's constant hovering was getting in his way. Abigail had helped the doctor undress Elizabeth while Jack paced the floor, asking questions or moving past the other two to brush Elizabeth's hair out of her face. One look at Elizabeth's swollen face caused Jack's eyes to tear up, so he moved away and paced the floor again. Only to return a moment later to hold Elizabeth's hand and stroke her cheek. Back and forth. Pacing and tearing up.

Finally, the doctor sent Jack to fill up the metal bed warmer with hot coals. When he returned, Jack sat on the edge of the bed, holding his wife's hand, and wiping his eyes.

"How bad is she?", he asked, turning to the doctor.

"She's been through the ringer, but she should be okay. The physical injuries she suffered will heal. Right now, I'm more worried about her lungs and making sure she doesn't get sick. She was out in the cold wet air a long time. She was lucky she had a thick coat and a corset. They saved her from much more serious damage. . . . Look at the back of her coat, Jack", he instructed.

Jack picked up the bloodied and dirty coat from the floor. Across the back, the fabric was slashed open in several places. Jack noticed for the first time how evenly spaced the tears were. Slowly bending down, he picked up Elizabeth's damaged corset.

"Looks to me like bear claws. Could be wrong. What do you think?", the doctor asked.

Jack just nodded in despair as he dropped the clothes to the floor and went to sit beside Elizabeth again. He barely listened as the doctor rattled off Elizabeth's injuries.

"A laceration to the skull. Contusion to the skull and face. Severely sprained ankle. A broken wrist. Most likely a few cracked ribs. Bullet wound to the right leg."

Jack's head jerked up. "What the hell did you say?"

"A bullet wound to the right leg. Jack, someone shot your wife."

 **Up next: Chapter 2 "The Encounter with the Boots"**


	2. Chapter 2 - The encounter with the Boots

**Chapter 2 – The Encounter with the Boots**

"Jack, someone must have been shooting at the bear and hit Elizabeth by accident", Rosemary explained as she carried the lunch plates to the sink in the Thornton's small kitchen.

"I thought about that, but it doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't they stay to help her?"

"Maybe they didn't know they hit her. It could have been a stray bullet. Perhaps they weren't even shooting at the bear, but at deer or something, and the bullet hit Elizabeth without them even knowing it."

"Rosie, you know most people hunt in the early morning, not late afternoon. And by now, the whole town knows that she was hurt. No one's come forward to say anything", Jack responded. He picked up a dishtowel and stood next to Rosemary, waiting for her to hand him a wet dish.

"Jack, I'm sure it was some kind of accident. Why -."

The knock on the door interrupted their conversation. Jack was now used to the steady stream of visitors bringing simple meals, or well wishes, or cards made by the students.

"How's she doing today?" Bill asked as Jack opened the door and he came in, accompanied by Mr. Brick from the livery.

"She's been in and out. Doc says she looks good. She's got her color back and thankfully, there's no frostbite."

"Has she said anything?"

"Nothing yet. Just mumbling. Nightmares." Jack grew sullen. He didn't like to think about how his wife had been shaking and crying in her sleep.

"Can I get you men some tea or coffee?" Rosemary asked as she entered from the kitchen.

"No, thanks, ma'am", Mr. Brick responded. "I just wanted to let the constable know that my horse finally came back. She had a bullet in her. I took it out", he said as he handed the metal slug to Jack.

"There won't be any real damage. It hit the saddle first. But Constable, I don't like someone shooting at my horses. . . or your wife". He looked at Jack with pity. Everyone had heard about the extent of Elizabeth's injuries.

"One bullet in Elizabeth's leg. One in the horse. Two shots doesn't sound like an accident, Jack", Bill noted.

Jack was already thinking the same thing.

* * *

The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the smell of coffee. She loved the smell of coffee. Even if Elizabeth liked the taste of tea more, she loved the aroma of a freshly brewed cup of coffee.

The second thing she noticed was how warm and cozy she was. She sighed in contentment at the feeling.

She felt someone holding her hand and assumed that it must be Jack.

Elizabeth could hear voices and knew she should probably open her eyes but she felt so tired.

"Elizabeth, can you hear me?" Jack's voice was gentle.

"Elizabeth, try to open your eyes."

 _I never could say no to that man._ _When he says my name that way, it makes me feel all yummy inside,_ Elizabeth thought as she sleepily opened her eyes.

"You had me worried."

"Where am I?" Her voice was raspy.

"You're back home. We found you outside in the snow after you went riding. I'm not sure what happened. "

Elizabeth looked at Jack and smiled. "You're so handsome".

Jack chuckled. "That's the morphine talking. You've been out for quite a while. I want to get some soup in you, okay?"

Elizabeth nodded and tried to sit up.

"Whoa, let me help you. You've got some broken ribs", Jack said as he set down his coffee cup on the nightstand next to the bowl of soup.

Elizabeth noticed the cast on her wrist.

"and a broken wrist, a swollen ankle, a black eye, and some cuts and bruises", Jack added.

"You should see the bear", Elizabeth said with a grin.

"My God, Elizabeth, you're lucky to be alive," Jack said.

"The bear's still talking about it". She smiled again.

Jack spoon-fed Elizabeth the warm soup which Abigail had prepared. She was still tired, but he needed to know what had happened.

* * *

"It happened so suddenly, Jack. The horse bolted. I fell off. The bear came out of the bushes at me and I ran. The bear knocked me down the embankment", she explained for the third time.

No matter how much prodding Jack had done, Elizabeth still hadn't mentioned the bullet wound. She had told him about the bear, the hollow tree, the cold, and even about vomiting from the pain, but she hadn't mentioned being shot.

"Elizabeth", he said slowly. "I need you to think back. Did you encounter anybody when you were out riding, before the bear?"

She shook her head as she swallowed a spoonful of soup.

"Did you hear a gunshot?"

"I think so. Maybe two ", she said frowning. She furrowed her brow as she tried to remember. She instinctively reached out and touched her right thigh but she merely felt the thick blankets and didn't give her leg another thought. "I think the noise was what made the horse bolt. Someone must have been hunting. Why? Is it important?"

Jack didn't answer but fed her the last spoonful of soup.

"I'm tired, Jack. Can we go to bed now?", she asked sleepily.

"You're already in bed, sweetie."

Elizabeth looked around in surprise, her mind still muddled by the medication. "Well, that was fast. We just ate and I'm already in bed", she laughed.

"You know, you really are just too cute", Elizabeth added with a smile as she looked admiringly at her husband.

Jack chuckled. "I think we need to start reducing your pain medication. You are entirely too happy for someone who has been attacked by a bear and spent a freezing night in a tree."

Jack put the bowl on the nightstand and helped Elizabeth lie down. As he gave her a kiss on the forehead, she spoke again.

"Who found me, Jack?"

"I did. You said you remembered that. You heard me calling for you and you yelled back until I found you", Jack patiently reminded her.

"I remember that. But who found me before that? The first time?"

Jack stopped tucking in the blanket around her and gave Elizabeth a puzzled look.

"No one, Elizabeth. I found you. I heard you yelling and saw you laying in the snow halfway down the hill."

Elizabeth looked at Jack with mild exasperation as if he wasn't understanding her question.

"I mean the _first_ time", she said emphatically. "Before nighttime. When it was still sunny."

"No one found you before morning. You're probably a little confused from the head injury and the medication. I found you in the morning. And yes, it was sunny then", he said soothingly.

"But they weren't your boots I saw", she explained with a sigh as she turned comfortably on her side and closed her eyes.

"Elizabeth, what do you mean? What boots?", Jack said, suddenly alert.

"The boots I saw standing by me when I was lying in the snow. They weren't your boots", Elizabeth quietly informed Jack just before she fell asleep.

* * *

Hours later, as Jack carried the dinner tray with the bowl of stew into the bedroom, he thought again about his boots. He had two pairs. His Mountie boots. Brown. To the knee. Smooth leather. Laces from mid-foot to mid-shin. He also had his personal boots. Dark brown. Simple design on the sides; none on the feet. No laces.

Elizabeth had seen him polishing both pairs enough to know what they looked like.

"Elizabeth, what were you talking about earlier, before you fell asleep, when you mentioned seeing someone's boots?", Jack asked as he set down the tray on the bed.

"The day I was hurt. Before I passed out, I saw someone's boots. They were black with some tooling. Some fancy pattern. I couldn't lift my head from the snow, but my eyes were open and I saw the boots walking to me. Someone stood by my head."

"Did the person say anything?"

"Not to me." Elizabeth frowned. "But I heard someone in the distance yell something. . . . It sounded like 'Lee'."

"You thought you heard Lee yelling for you? He was, sweetie. But that was the day after you went missing." Jack breathed a sigh. _No one had been standing by her earlier. Elizabeth had just been confused about the timing._

Jack handed a glass of water to Elizabeth before continuing. "Lee was calling for you the morning after you went missing. I told you that already. Lee, Frank, Bill, and I were out looking for you. We called your name over and over," Jack explained as he placed a napkin over Elizabeth's nightdress and took back her glass. He handed her a spoon, which she took with her left hand.

"No, Jack. It was the day I fell", Elizabeth said adamantly. " And I don't think I heard Lee yelling _for me_ , I heard someone calling _for_ _Lee'_ ".

"Someone was calling out to Lee Coulter?"

Elizabeth nodded and looked at Jack, who gave her a puzzled frown.

"Are you sure?"

"I was lying there, and my face was cold on the snow, and my head hurt. I just know it was the first day and I saw boots and heard a voice. It sounded like someone was calling out for Lee."

"Did you recognize the voice?"

"No. It was a man's voice. . . . At least I think it was."

"And then what?"

"I must have passed out."

Jack didn't say anything but tried to envision the scene. He motioned for Elizabeth to eat.

"Maybe it was a dream. I don't know. It must have been a dream otherwise someone would have helped me. No one would just have left me there to die in the snow. Certainly not Lee. "

Jack noticed that Elizabeth was starting to get slightly agitated.

"Lee was with me when I found you. And he was here earlier with Rosemary when you were in and out of consciousness. You must have heard me calling his name when I found you . . . or maybe Rosemary said his name when she was outside your door. You should get some rest. We'll talk some more later", he said, keeping his voice more calm and in control than he felt.

* * *

"Doesn't she have any idea who shot her?" Abigail asked.

"Abigail, she doesn't even know she was shot. She's on so much morphine she can't feel the pain, and her leg is covered by the blankets so she hasn't seen the bandage", Jack answered as he sat at the kitchen table with Abigail.

"And she doesn't remember? How can she not remember getting shot?!"

"It was a small bullet. She probably felt it but didn't realize right away what it was. Then, with the horse bucking her and everything else, the pain just got all mixed together."

"You have to tell her."

"I will. I just don't want to upset her yet."

* * *

"What do you mean I was shot?!" Elizabeth exclaimed when Jack finally told her.

She pulled back her blankets and examined the white bandage on her thigh. "Oh my goodness", she said quietly as she looked wide-eyed at Jack.

"Why?", she asked, looking bewildered.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm hoping you can tell me. Lee's been asking around the mill. Bill's being investigating. Frank's been talking to people. But so far, no one knows anything. "

"But, Jack, I don't know either", Elizabeth said in confusion.

* * *

Elizabeth turned away from the food and leaned her head back against the stack of pillows. She didn't care that she hadn't eaten much in the last few days. If Jack tried to get her to eat one more bite, she would vomit. She hurt too much to eat.

"Constable, I'm sorry she's in pain, but no more morphine. It can be too addicting. I gave her some aspirin, and you can give her a little alcohol. Try to keep her calm and resting until the ribs heal. And make sure she stays warm. Her lungs sound good, but we want to keep her resting for a while longer. It's only been a few days. I know it hurts her to breath because of the ribs, but she needs to try to breathe deeply to avoid pneumonia, " the doctor explained as Jack showed him to the door.

Jack frowned when he entered the bedroom and saw that Elizabeth's plate of food remained untouched. She opened her eyes and lifted her head from the pillows when she heard him approach.

"The doctor says you're getting better", Jack said encouragingly.

"I feel worse. Everything hurts. And I'm tired of being stuck in bed. I can barely walk because of my ankle. I can't write because of my wrist. I can't read because I'm afraid my headache will come back. The most productive thing I've done all week is brush my teeth", she complained irritably. "Can you take the tray away? I'm not hungry."

Jack handed her a glass of whiskey as he picked up the tray from her lap. "Drink this. And I've got an idea for your boredom."

* * *

"Not so big. Smaller. Yes, that's good. Now fix the lines. They're too swirly", Elizabeth instructed Jack as he drew with his pencils on the sheet of ivory colored paper in the sketchbook.

"Like that?"

"Yes!"

"Now put the silver tips on them."

"How's this?", Jack asked as he penciled in small triangles on the tips of the black boots.

"Perfect"

"How is it that you can't remember getting shot, but you can describe the boots you saw perfectly?", Jack asked humorously with raised eyebrows.

Elizabeth shrugged, and then immediately winced when she felt the pain of her ribs. "I know fashion. And I do remember hearing the gunshots and feeling something. I just didn't have time to think about what it was. I told you everything happened so quickly."

"But you're sure that remember these boots?"

"Yes. Definitely. My head was lying on the ground and someone walked right up to me. The boots were so close I could have touched them. Well, if I could have moved, I could have touched them".

Elizabeth took the pad of paper and held it in her left hand. Resting it on the cast of her right wrist, she stared at the sketch that Jack had made as she had described to him the boots she had seen.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked when he noticed how quiet she had become.

"Just thinking about the boots. I thought they were a little too fancy for my taste", she said crossly as she also remembered how she had felt lying in the snow and then cramped in the tree.

"You must have been scared. Getting thrown from the horse. The bear. Then out there in the dark. Cold and alone", Jack said as he gently took the sketchpad from her hands. He glanced sideways at her, not wanting her to see how worried he was about her.

"No. Not really. You taught me how to prepare for the wilderness so I wasn't scared. Uncomfortable, yes - but scared, no." Elizabeth said casually. "But I never want to have to sleep in a hollowed out tree again", she said with a forced laugh.

"No more hollowed trees", he agreed with a weak smile.

"Jack, I'm sorry if I worried you. There really was no reason to worry," Elizabeth added lightly as looked down at her sheets. She ran her hand along them, smoothing out the wrinkles, avoiding looking at Jack.

"It's fine. I wasn't too worried. I knew you could figure out what to do and keep yourself safe until I found you in the morning", Jack said nonchalantly as he gathered up his pencils and their drinking glasses and started to walk across the room.

When Jack reached the doorway, he stopped and leaned his arm against the doorframe. He hung his head and took a deep breath before turning to look atElizabeth.

"Can we admit that we're both terrible liars?"

Elizabeth nodded, her eyes glistening with tears.

By the time Jack, who sprinted across the room, had reached her and enveloped her in his arms, she was sobbing.

* * *

"She's dreaming about my husband?! Why is your wife dreaming about my husband?!" Rosemary exclaimed theatrically when Jack explained to her and Lee about what little Elizabeth had said..

Without waiting for a response, Rosemary continued to rant. "When I came to town and dreamed of you, Jack ,that was only natural. We were engaged once. But for her to be dreaming of Lee, that's not right."

"You dreamed of Jack? Was this before or after I moved here?" Lee asked with a furrowed brow.

"Hush, Lee. This isn't about me and Jack, it's about you and Elizabeth, Rosemary said reprovingly.

Lee raised his eyebrows and smiled. "If you can dream of Jack, why can't Elizabeth dream of me?"

"Lee, don't be silly. No woman would even dare of trying to compete with me for your affection. Now be quiet while Jack explains."

Despite the severity of the situation, Jack smiled at Rosemary's antics. "She wasn't dreaming of Lee. She's just confused. She must have heard me yelling to him that I found her. "

Although Jack smiled, he couldn't help but glance down at Lee's shoes. Plain brown shoes. _Thank goodness for that,_ he thought as he looked at Lee's kind face. Lee had become one of Jack's closest friends since he came to Hope Valley. _But still_ , he wondered. _Elizabeth thought she heard someone calling Lee's name._

 _Could Lee leave my wife to die in the snow?,_ Jack thought to himself as he held out his mug for Rosemary to pour him some more coffee.

* * *

Jack left Elizabeth in Abigail's care while he rode out to the spot where they had found her. He didn't expect to find anything, but he couldn't stop thinking about the boots Elizabeth thought she had seen. The more she had thought about them, the more certain she had been that they had been real. Even the detail Elizabeth had given to Jack as he sketched them had seemed clear in her mind.

Jack left horse tied to a tree at the top of the hill while he slowly made his way down the slope. His pushed aside the awful vision of Elizabeth, crumpled and broken, in the snow.

Standing at the bottom of the hill, Jack saw where Elizabeth had found shelter from the sleet. It was just as she described it. When he reached the old fir tree, he bent down and picked up a charred piece of paper that hadn't burned completely. One of the Olson boys was getting a C minus in math. Jack guessed it was the older of the boys; he had always seemed a bit dimwitted. Jack smiled when he thought that some of the students would be pleased to know that their report cards had been burned.

Jack walked around in a circle, examining the snow, looking up the hill, scanning the bushes and trees around him.

He crouched down and picked up remnants of Elizabeth's burned journal. The pages were all gone but part of the binding remained. It looked out of place. A burned book in the middle of the snow.

In the middle of the forest.

For more than two miles, there were no signs of civilization except the remnants from the fires which Elizabeth had started.

 _My wife almost died here_.

As he was standing up, Jack saw the lady's hair comb a few feet away. He picked it out of the snow and put it in his pocket. Her journal was beyond salvaging, but he could at least give Elizabeth the hair comb when he got home.

There was nothing to suggest that anyone but Elizabeth had been here the day she had tumbled down the hill. With a sigh of relief, he realized that she was wrong about hearing someone call for Lee and she was wrong about seeing the boots. She had been in the cold and wetness for hours. Jack thought back to his survival training at the academy.

 _Hypothermia:_ _a medical emergency; when a person's body loses heat faster than it can produce heat, causing a dangerously low body temperature. Cause: exposure to cold weather. Symptoms include shivering, clumsiness, fatigue, nausea, and confusion._

Elizabeth had been confused. A classic symptom of hypothermia, Jack told himself.

Most likely the bullets of someone traveling through the area and hunting for dinner had ricocheted off a tree. The hunter had probably never gotten within a 100 yards of Elizabeth, and never knew the bullets had hit her and the horse.

 _There's no evidence that anyone but Elizabeth was ever here_ , he repeated to himself confidently.

As he started to make his way back to his own horse, Jack stopped in his tracks.

They were lying on top of the snow.

Two of them.

The papers' color was so similar to the color of the snow, that he had missed them when he walked by the first time. Jack tuned his head and looked back, judging the distance to the burned journal.

It was no more than 6 feet away.

Jack's sense of confidence plummeted as he slowly bent down and picked up the two discarded cigarette butts. _She hadn't been alone._

 **Up next Chapter 3: The Forgotten Clue**


	3. Chapter 3 - The Forgotten Clue

Chapter 3- The Forgotten Clue

"I'm really starting to get insulted", Lee said with a deep sigh. "In fact, I started to get insulted ten minutes ago when you began this stupid line of questioning again."

"She heard someone calling out to you."

"And I told you, I wasn't anywhere near that area. Ask the men at the mill. Ask the men at the cutting sites. Ask the livery. They'll tell you I didn't borrow a horse. My God, Jack. You and Elizabeth are Rosemary and my best friends. You stood up for us at our wedding. I could never hurt Elizabeth or you. Or leave her lying there in the snow."

Jack pushed his hair back in frustration and walked around the room, the empty jail cells reminding him that the shooters were still out there. "I know. I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated. . . . . I'm sorry, Lee."

* * *

Jack watched as Lee left the building and headed down the muddy street towards the lumber office. He had no reason to doubt Lee . . except that Elizabeth had heard someone calling to Lee. _Had Lee been the man standing by her head as she had lay in the snow?_ The thought nagged at him. He tried to push it aside by remembering the good times they had spent as friends playing darts, sharing a drink, eating meals.

While Jack investigated the shooting, spending his days making the rounds of the settlers and townspeople, Elizabeth was never alone. Torn between staying at their home protecting her or traveling about the area finding her shooters, Jack made sure that a rotating stream of visitors kept on eye on her when he couldn't be at the cottage.

When Jack found Elizabeth getting dressed to go to school one morning, he put his foot down. As long as Rosemary and Mrs. Blakely were willing to handle the students and bring her papers to grade, Elizabeth was not to leave the house. Jack wasn't only concerned about her recuperating quickly from her numerous injuries. He was concerned about keeping her alive.

Someone had tried to kill his wife and he had no idea why.

* * *

The wooden boards creaked as Bill walked back and forth across the jail house floor, thinking aloud.

"She came upon something illegal. She didn't even realize it, but the culprits noticed her. They shot at her to scare her away or keep her from talking. The horse threw her, the bear attacked her, and she was thrown down the hill. While she lay injured in the snow, the man in the black boots approached her. He probably was deciding whether to finish killing her when his friend called out to him and then joined him. The two men stood by her, smoking their cigarettes, trying to decide what to do. When Elizabeth passed out, they decided to save a bullet. Not call any more attention to themselves in case anyone else was riding in the area. They figured that she would die anyway from her injuries or the cold or another animal attack."

When Bill finished with his theory, Jack looked at the sketch of the boots in his hand and contemplated the situation.

"That sounds possible."

"It's the only theory we've got", Bill responded. He was concerned about Jack. This incident with Elizabeth had changed her husband; making him overly suspicious of every man in town, and overly protective of Elizabeth. Bill knew that Jack tried to put on a smiling face when Elizabeth was with him, but when she wasn't, he reverted back to the tense, sullen, and "quick to jump on anyone" Mountie he had become since the shooting.

"It's good news. If that's what happened, the culprits assumed Elizabeth died. They won't come looking for her", Bill said encouragingly.

Jack looked worriedly at Bill. "Except the whole town knows she didn't die."

* * *

"Hi, Jack. Just give me a second and I'll get your dinner from the back. You're a little earlier than I expected", Abigail said as she looked up from her customers and saw Jack as he came into the Café.

After almost two weeks of casseroles and roasted chicken dinners made by the women of the town, Jack actually missed Elizabeth's unique style of cooking. He was eager for them to get back to their normal lives but he wasn't ready to let her start doing chores just yet, and he had been far too busy looking after her, investigating the shooting, and handling his other Mountie work to manage to make anything more than oatmeal and eggs.

"Clara, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be watching Elizabeth", Jack said in surprise when he saw Clara walk out of the kitchen carrying napkins and heading towards some unoccupied tables.

"Lee stopped by your place about an hour ago and said he'd stay with Elizabeth so I could come back for the dinner crowd. Elizabeth was getting bored, so it was probably nice for her to have some new company."

"That was okay, wasn't it?" Clara asked curiously when she saw Jack's worried face.

* * *

When Abigail came out of the kitchen a moment later with the packaged food, she looked around for Jack and was surprised that he had left without the meal. Clara just shrugged and told Abigail that he seemed to have been in a hurry. Before the women could give it another thought, the door opened and customers, hungry for Abigail's pot pie, came in, requiring the women's attention.

Jack hurried home. _I'm just being silly. Lee would never hurt Elizabeth_.

With a frown, Jack recognized that he didn't know anything about Lee's life before he had come to Hope Valley. Leland Coulter had shown up out of nowhere just when the town needed a new business. Everyone had been grateful for the work after the coal mine had closed and Lee's seemingly kind nature, so different from Mr. Gowen's, meant that no one thought to question him about his past.

As Jack urged his horse to go faster down the dirt road to the Thornton cottage, he realized that Lee expected Jack to still be working at this hour. _Had Lee gone to see if Elizabeth remembered anything more about the shooting? To see if she remembered anything that would implicate him?_

Jack looked at the quiet cottage in the setting sunlight. He didn't expect to see anything. Elizabeth should be inside, in bed, resting.

He was no more than 10 feet from the front porch when he heard the sound of something shattering and Elizabeth's angry voice.

"Get away from me!"

* * *

Rushing up the steps two at a time, and barreling through the door into the cottage, Jack stopped when he saw Rosemary, Lee, and Elizabeth standing in the kitchen. They looked startled to see him as they stood surrounded by the remains of a fancy teacup.

"Your damn cat jumped on me and made me drop a china cup!" Elizabeth said irritably when she saw Jack standing in the doorway.

Rosemary reached for the broom from the room's corner and gently ushered an angry Elizabeth out of the kitchen and across the short hallway into the bedroom, informing her that she would take care of the mess.

Jack took a deep breath to calm himself as he bent down to pick up Comet, who had run to him and was meowing to be picked up by her favorite human.

Lee, embarrassed at having seen Elizabeth yell at Jack, stooped down and began picking up the larger shards of china, laying them in his hand, careful to avoid the sharp edges of the shattered teacup.

"It's okay. I'll get it." Jack said as he held Comet in one hand and took the broom from Rosemary. "You should get going. Thanks."

Lee dumped the contents of his hand into the trash and then handed Rosemary her coat before reaching for his own. As he took it from the hook on the wall, he spoke gently to Jack.

"She's restless. You've had her locked up for two weeks. You have to let her out of the house."

"Someone tried to kill her", Jack said tersely.

"And you're smothering her", Rosemary said gently as she gave Jack a kiss on the cheek before she walked out the door.

* * *

"Why did you get out of bed?"

"I needed a spoon for my tea. Rosemary gave me the wrong spoon. A soup spoon is not the same as a teaspoon", Elizabeth said with a shrug as Jack tucked her thick woolen blanket around her.

"You could have asked her to bring you another spoon."

"I'm sorry, Jack. And I'll apologize to them tomorrow. I didn't mean to yell at you or your stupid cat. I'm just tired of being stuck at home with people babysitting me. I feel like someone is always hovering over me. Doing everything for me. I need to get out."

"You need to stay safe until I figure out what happened."

"You never leave me alone. You keep the doors locked when it's just the two of us. The bedroom shutters are locked. I can't even go to the outhouse unless someone accompanies me. You're making me feel like a prisoner."

"As soon as I catch whoever did this to you, things will go back to normal."

"Then we need to work on it together and do it quickly. Because I'm tired of staying in bed or on the couch all day. My ankle is better, my wrist is almost healed, my lungs are fine, and I haven't had a headache in a week. Jack, I'm ready to go back to work."

"You didn't mention you leg . . where you were shot", he noted.

Elizabeth paused. "It's almost totally healed. I barely even notice it."

Jack sat on the edge of the bed. It was clear his wife wanted things to get back to normal now. His shoulders slumped like a tired man who didn't know his next step. "How do you feel about Lee?"

"What do you mean?"

Jack felt stupid even asking the question, but he needed to know.

"Does he make you feel uncomfortable? Scared? Suspicious?"

"Of Lee?", Elizabeth asked in surprise. "Jack, Lee would never hurt anyone. For Pete's sake, I think _I'm_ tougher than Lee. I'm not sure why I heard someone calling out for him, but there's no way that a man who puts up with Rosemary and wears fancy checkered trousers could hurt me", she said as she rolled her eyes at the thought.

"Now, let's figure out who really did this. Let me see your notes", Elizabeth instructed him eagerly.

* * *

Jack's notes were sparse. The only clues were the cigarette butts, the slugs taken from Elizabeth and the horse, Elizabeth's description of the black boots, and the name "Lee".

Every man in town had been accounted for during the hours that Elizabeth had been riding and missing. Elizabeth's eyes scanned the list. Both she and Jack knew there was the possibility that some of them could by lying, covering for an accomplice. Jack had put a check mark next to those men he considered less suspicious. Many of the fathers of her students seemed unlikely to have harmed Elizabeth; they had known her too long and had never had a quarrel with her. Jack also reasoned that after years of being underground in a flammeable environment for 10 hours day without much opportunity for a break above ground, the former miners were less likely to have picked up the habit of cigarette smoking.

Jack had focused much of his investigation on the settlers and lumberjacks who were newer to the area. He had questioned them over and over, looking for anything suspicious, always looking down at their boots when he first greeted them. The men, eager to stay out of trouble and remain in the good graces of the town's constable, had answered his questions politely. With each shake of the head "no" and reply that they hadn't seen anything or heard anything unusual, Jack grew more and more despondent.

* * *

"Jack, you need to get to work and the students will be here soon. I don't want the students to think I need a bodyguard."

"Myself, Bill, or one of the Pinkertons will be outside at all times. Don't worry about anything."

"I'm not worried about it. Whoever hurt me is long gone. The only thing that worries me is that my students will have turned into little Rosemarys or little Florences while I've been gone. Now scat."

"and thanks for the chrysalis !", she added with a smile as she looked at the object, still attached to a leaf, which Jack had found for her to share with her students. After weeks of feeling useless and isolated, Elizabeth was eager to get back to teaching.

Jack looked back at the schoolhouse door one more time before riding off. He realized that Elizabeth was probably right.

His telegrams to other Mountie offices had turned up nothing. No one had any information on a wanted man named "Lee" or two suspicious men traveling in the area.

Whoever hurt her was long gone. It had been almost three weeks and no one had troubled Hope Valley.

* * *

Another week passed and the weather brought sunny cloudless skies. Looking at the crocus and daffodils forced from the ground by the warm spell, it was hard to believe that a month earlier Elizabeth had nearly died in the cold.

Jack finally agreed that Elizabeth didn't need a bodyguard outside the schoolhouse and things had gotten back to normal. Almost. But not quite. Jack still found himself looking suspiciously at every man, checking for telegrams two or three times a day, and hurrying to finish his rounds so he could escort Elizabeth home from school when she had finished at the end of each day.

Jack sat on the blanket, his arms resting on his bent knees as he looked at Elizabeth twenty feet away, walking in the area they had cleared for a small garden. He watched as the wind blew a curl in her face, and she reached up to tuck it behind her ear. She looked over and smiled at Jack as he sat comfortably, surrounded by the empty packets of seeds.

"You know, we're not going to be here when the plants come up", he reminded her.

"I know, but it will be a nice present for the new tenants."

He returned her smile and secretly wished that she would hurry up with the gardening. She had allowed him to help clear the plot of land, but she was taking pride in planting the seeds herself. Her first garden.

Jack didn't like her being out here so exposed to anyone who could be hiding in the woods. He again reminded himself that the culprits were probably long gone. His next posting had already been delayed once, but Jack couldn't help thinking that the move out of Hope Valley was for the best.

"Careful of bending. Your ribs are still healing."

"I'm fine, Jack", she said "Stop babying me."

"You said there's a lake where we're moving. Maybe it will be warm enough to go swimming by the time we get settled there", she remarked as she thought about their upcoming transfer.

"I've never pictured you as much of a lake swimmer", he said curiously.

"That's because you still don't know everything about me", she teased. "Every summer we used to go to a resort in the mountains. There were summer cottages and a big gorgeous hotel. The town has a spring-fed lake with a small beach and little shops. We would go boating, and dancing, and play cards and just relax for a few weeks. In the middle of the lake, about ¼ mile out, there's a floating dock. We would race out there and then lay exhausted on the wooden planks while the sun warmed us. I actually became quite a good swimmer."

"Well, I don't think there will be any fancy hotels or floating docks where we're going", he reminded her with a chuckle as he watched her stand up straight and look at the dirt.

"Finished", she said as she wiped her hands on apron and surveyed her rows of neatly planted seeds. "I've planted chives, lettuce, beets, carrots, broccoli, and radishes".

Jack moved to stand up. "Good. Now let's go inside."

"No", she said adamantly. "I want to sit out here and enjoy the sun. It's so nice out today. I'm going to read. You can sit there worrying about me or sketch something, but we're _not_ going inside."

* * *

 _This is going to take some creative thinking_ , Jack realized. He knew that if he insisted that they go inside for her safety, she would balk at the idea.

Elizabeth was reading a book on vegetable gardening when she felt Jack's fingers on her neck, tracing patterns as he moved them gently, caressing her skin.

"Jack, what are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm sketching. You told me to sketch", he said innocently.

"I didn't mean on me", she said with an exasperated smile.

"Sorry. You weren't specific enough and I've already started."

Elizabeth found it harder and harder to concentrate as Jack moved his fingers on her.

"I love you", he said as he added his lips to his sketching on her neck. "I love you" he whispered again as he kissed her ear lobe. His hands touched her waist, lightly pressing on her as he gently turned her around and leaned her down, until her back was on the blanket.

He leaned over her, putting his weight on his forearms, and intertwining his legs with hers. Elizabeth's hands moved along Jack's back, untucking his shirt as he kissed her.

"Jack, we need to stop", she said even as she leaned her head to the side, granting him more access to her neck.

"Why? We're married", he said. His lips were warm and sensual as he kissed the skin left bare as his fingers began to unbutton her blouse. He took his time, tantalizing her.

Every few moments, he would return his lips to hers and kiss her passionately, before returning his attention to her skin, now exposed by her unbuttoned blouse and raised undershirt. When he ran his tongue down her cleavage, a tingling went through her body.

"Because we're outside", Elizabeth finally answered between deep breaths. Despite her reasoning, she began to unbutton his shirt and returned her lips to his.

"We've done things outside before", he reminded her with a whisper in her ear.

"Not in the middle of the day."

"I don't want to stop" was his simple response.

"Then we need to get inside", she informed him as she pushed him back. Wrapping her shirt around her, she scrambled up from the blanket and held out her hand to him.

"Do we have to?" he asked innocently.

"Yes! Inside now!"

Jack smiled as he allowed Elizabeth to lead him into the house.

 _What was he thinking starting something like that outside?_!, she thought in disbelief.

* * *

Elizabeth quietly moved her naked body out from underneath Jack. Despite their afternoon activity initiated by Jack's "sketching" hands, there was still enough time in the day for Elizabeth to get a load of laundry washed and on the line to dry before the sun set.

Careful not to disturb Jack, she made her way around the room, picking up their clothes and adding them to the laundry pile.

"What are you doing?" he asked as he opened his eyes but remained sprawled on the bed watching her.

"Just getting some laundry done. I can't keep relying on you do it."

"I don't mind."

"I know, but my cast is off and I can do it. Did you ever empty out your winter coat pockets? You always keep a handkerchief or two in there."

"It's hanging up in the closet", he answered lazily.

"I hope you're planning on putting on some clothes before you do the laundry outside. I don't mind myself, but it might cause some gossip in town", he added humorously as he watched her naked body walk to the closet and rummage through his clothes, reaching into his coat pockets.

"Elizabeth, Did you hear what I said?", he asked when he saw that Elizabeth was standing in front of the closet door looking at something in her hand.

"What's this?" Elizabeth asked curiously as she held his handkerchief in one hand and a small brown item in the other.

Jack lifted his head from his pillow.

"That's your hair comb. I forgot about it. I found it by the remains of the fire when I went back to where you were hurt."

"It's not mine", she said with a furrowed brow.

"What do you mean?", Jack asked, sitting up in bed.

"Jack, it's not mine. You know my hair combs", she said wide-eyed.

"You have lots of hair combs", Jack said insistently.

"And this is not one of them!"

Jack jumped out of bed and reached for the comb.

All these weeks, the comb had been forgotten in the pocket of his winter jacket.

All these weeks, they had been concentrating on the boots and the cigarettes.

All these weeks, they had been looking for two men.

Jack looked at the hair comb and realized with a start that Elizabeth hadn't been the only woman in the woods that day.

 **Up next: Chapter 4 - The Woman**

 **P.S. While I'm busy writing chapter 4, you can check out my other story, "Reversal of Fortune", which I wrote under the name woolenslipper to differentiate it from my vignettes. It's light and fun. Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4- Women

**Chapter 4 – Women**

It started up again. The questions. The looks of suspicion. It was now the women's turn to bear the brunt of Jack's frustration and anger.

The townspeople sighed in exasperation and turned street corners or reversed directions, trying to avoid Jack when they saw him walking towards them. He questioned all of them, but any woman who was unlucky enough to be named _Le_ anne or Les _lie_ or some variation of those names received special attention.

"I made dinner for them. Twice!" exclaimed Florence. "And now he has the gall to interrogate me like I'm a criminal!"

"Why is he looking at my hair combs?! I have nothing to do with what happened!", Molly questioned as the group of women sat around a table at the Café.

"He asked me if any of the women are good with a rifle! As if we would be out shooting in the woods", Mary Dunbar remarked.

Abigail calmed down the women as best she could. She reminded them that Jack was not just their friend and neighbor, but the constable and a husband. Their husbands would have been just as worried about them, and they would have been just as concerned about their husbands, she told them.

The women sighed and grew silent, remembering their husbands. They finally agreed to be more indulgent of Jack's inquiries and suspicions, but they all agreed on something else.

"We're women. We would never harm another woman like that. Women aren't that cruel."

* * *

Emily Gregorson was born a beautiful baby. She was what the country folks in the province called a "first-class" girl. The kind of girl that looked like her maker had given her the best of everything. Her eyes were bright and blue, ringed with long dark lashes. Her nose was dainty and perfectly sized for her heart shaped face. Her lips had just the right amount of fullness. Her pure pale skin was without a blemish of any kind.

Of course, that was before.

Before her nose was punched by her father one too many times, leaving it with a permanent crookedness. Before the skin on her face was scarred by the broken bottle her mother had thrown at her. Before the skin on her hands was burned by the machinery's hot steam in the factory where she had briefly worked. Before her lips were lined with the wrinkles left from smoking packs of cigarettes.

Her eyes were still blue, but they had lost their brightness years ago.

Emily Gregorson would have grown into a beautiful lady if she had lived a life other than her own. If she had lived a life like that of Elizabeth Thatcher, a daughter in a wealthy family aspiring to be an author, men would have flocked to her for her beauty. Potential suitors would have tried to impress her with gifts of silk ribbons for her long wavy hair, which was the color of caramel from an expensive sweet shop.

Instead, Emily Gregorson lived the life she had been dealt.

She had lost her first-class looks years ago, and any kindness that had once been in her was long since gone, beaten out by her parents' fists or shed away in tears.

It had been years since she had cried and she rarely thought about that time. She had been 17 years old and working in the factory when she had fallen in love with the handsome older foreman. He had made her promises. Promises that he loved her. Promises to treat her better than her parents ever had. Promises to one day marry her and take her away from the harsh work at the factory. She had naively believed them all.

Until she told him that she was pregnant.

She was fired that week.

As Emily had cried to her lover, pleading with him to make her understand, he scoffed at her. It turned out that the man of her dreams was in reality a womanizer with a wife and three children who had no use for a poor pregnant mistress.

The child in her womb was gone the next week, and she would never have another. She would also never cry again.

By the time she met Sam three years later, she had learned how to con a man out of most of the money in his wallet, shoot better than any respectable woman needed to, and ride a horse fast enough to get away from the trouble she had caused.

Emily didn't love Sam and he didn't love her. But they were good together. Partners. Sam would never raise a hand in anger at Emily. He respected her too much. He also knew that if he did, she would probably slit his throat in return.

When Emily's younger brother left home and found her to tell her that their parents had died, Emily was glad to hear the news. They had always treated her like garbage.

Emily had no sibling love for her brother, but she could trust him. There were only two people in the world that she trusted, Sam and Bruce. So, Bruce joined Emily and Sam as they traveled through Canada. They poached animals to sell the fur, stole when they could, ran con jobs, and lived by their own rules, which included removing anyone who got in their way.

The trio had no remorse and no fear of the future.

The women sitting around Abigail's café table had never met a woman like Emily.

They were the lucky ones.

* * *

Jack leaned against the door frame of the small bedroom and watched as Elizabeth got ready for their trip. He loved watching her wrinkle up her dainty and perfect nose as she tried to decide which perfume to wear. He smiled when he saw her finally open the smallest glass bottle and place a dab of the liquid on the nape of her neck. She always chose the same one. His favorite.

When she ran her finger in the jar of petroleum jelly and then along her plump lips, Jack had to stop himself from crossing the room to kiss those lips.

Elizabeth saw Jack's reflection in the mirror and smiled. Despite the trauma of the past weeks, her eyes were bright and kind and sparkled when she looked at him.

Now that the swelling and bruises were gone, her skin was back to the pure blemish free pale skin that he loved to touch. His wife was a beautiful lady.

Elizabeth had been getting stronger every day. Not just physically, but mentally. And not just since the attack. Jack realized that ever since Elizabeth had first come to Hope Valley, she had been changing. He marveled that despite her strength, she had never lost her sensitivity.

Her eyes still glistened in tears when she saw an injured animal, or when she read a sad chapter in a novel. More than once, he had seen her near tears when he had been late coming home and she had worried about him.

Jack frowned when he thought about her latest tears. Ones that she wasn't even aware of. She had cried in her sleep again last night. He didn't mention it to her in the morning, and he was glad that she hadn't seemed to remember the nightmare when she had woken up.

Elizabeth was too trusting to believe that there were people in the world who were full of anger and hatred. When she found out that Jack had harshly questioned some of the women, she had gone to their homes the next day to apologize and make amends. She would not believe that there were people who didn't care whether she lived or died.

She would not believe that anyone she had met would have harmed her.

But then she had never really met Emily.

She had only seen her boots.

* * *

"We're meeting two Mounties at Calvert City and traveling part of the way with them. They'll leave us as they head north. It will be nice to have the company for a while", Jack explained again to Elizabeth as they boarded the train.

"Jack, I'm perfectly fine staying at a small inn or camping out in the woods with just my husband, but I know you'll enjoy having some Mountie company to discuss all that important Mountie work", she said with a smile.

"We'll have plenty of time to be alone", he replied with a grin. "And by important Mountie work, if you mean learning about the area where we'll be stationed in a few months, you're right."

"How's your ankle?", Elizabeth asked as they walked down the train aisle towards their seats. She had splurged and used some of her savings from before they were married to book a compartment for them. For once, Jack hadn't complained about using her family money and was happy to indulge her. They both needed a little luxury. Just when her health had finally gotten back to normal, Jack had twisted his ankle while grabbing the reins of a horse that had bolted from the livery two days ago.

"It's fine. A little swollen and sore, but I'll rest it on the train and while riding."

"Are you sure we shouldn't have postponed the trip?", she asked as she found their compartment.

"Nah, I'm fine. And I want you to have the chance to talk to the outgoing school teacher. When he found out that my wife was a teacher, he was pretty happy. He said it must be a sign that he was meant to go back east to live with his son."

Jack stowed their luggage on the racks above their seats and turned to Elizabeth with a grin. "Unlike you, I don't mind a little babying. So if you want to spoil your injured husband on this trip, I won't complain one bit."

Elizabeth smiled as she lifted Jack's leg and placed his foot on the seat opposite them. A _nice peaceful trip out of Hope Valley is just what we need_ , she thought.

Jack closed his eyes and leaned his head back. A _nice peaceful trip out of Hope Valley is just what we need_ , he thought.

Of course, sometimes what we need isn't what we get. But neither of them was thinking of that.

* * *

Sam put his hat back on and walked out of the store, counting the money. He peeled off some of the bills and handed them to the younger man leaning against the building, who took a long drag of his cigarette before putting the money in his pocket.

"Did he ask any questions?"

"Course not. A smart businessman doesn't ask questions when someone shows up with 15 pelts to sell. He's not stupid enough to ask if we're poachers. He already knows that. All he's going ask is how much we want for them."

"I say we go back to that area we were at a couple weeks ago. We trapped more there than anywhere else we've been."

"We also killed a woman there."

"We didn't kill her. We just shot at her. It wasn't our doing that she ended up like she did. And as far as anyone knows, some animal got to her. Her body may not have even been found. Any hungry animal could have eaten her that night."

"She better be dead."

The older man looked down the street. "There's Lee now with the horses. We'll talk about it", he said with a grunt, as he dropped his cigarette onto the wooden plank of the sidewalk and ground out the smoldering tobacco with the heel of his boot.

 **Up next: Chapter 5**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Cabin

**Chapter 5 – The Cabin**

They had been traveling by horse for more than four hours when Elizabeth realized that the weather must have dropped 20 degrees since the early afternoon. The farther west they had gone, the darker and more ominous the sky had become.

The four rode in silence, having run out of conversation long ago after sharing a compartment on the train since Calvert City. The younger of the Mounties, Constable Logan Brady, had been at the academy with Jack, while the older man traveling with him, Sergeant David Mission, was on his third assignment to the North.

When the two Mounties had joined Jack and Elizabeth on the train, Elizabeth had initially been interested in learning about the area and the new experiences she might encounter, and she had enjoyed watching Jack eagerly interact with the fellow Mounties.

But most of the conversation about Jack's upcoming duties, who had done the best hunting and fishing recently, and the status of old acquaintances from the academy, had bored her. She wasn't even going to pretend to be interested in who had received a promotion, and how much a freshly-caught trout had weighed. Instead she had fallen asleep with her head leaned up against the train window wishing that there was another woman along on the trip.

Despite the boredom of the final hours of the train ride, she had at least been warm.

Now, making their way through a valley on horseback, a shivering Elizabeth was day-dreaming of a warm fire when the rumbling sound broke the quiet.

"That's thunder!", Elizabeth exclaimed in surprise when she heard the noise.

"Sounds like we going to be getting thunder-snow. This is going to get bad", one of the men remarked as they all stopped their horses and looked at the moving sky in the distance.

"What's thunder-snow?" Elizabeth asked as she shivered again from the dropping temperature.

"It happens a lot in the Spring, especially with lake-effect snow . And it's just as dangerous as a regular thunderstorm. We need to find shelter before that storm gets to us", Jack said as he prodded his horse forward.

* * *

Elizabeth has seen beautiful snow before. Fat white flakes that floated gently down from the sky like feathers falling from a burst pillowcase. The kind of snow that made her want to stop what she was doing to open her mouth and let a morsel of winter wonderland land softly on her tongue.

This was not that kind of snow.

It was as if the clouds hadn't been able to decide if they should drench the four travelers in cold rain or heavy wet snow, so they decided to just go ahead and do both and add some icy pellets into the mix.

Elizabeth had once read that the Inuit had 50 different words to describe snow.

She could only think of one.

Miserable.

* * *

The four were soaked within 30 minutes. The men's leather coats and high riding boots offered the most protection, but their pants legs couldn't keep out the driving sleet. Elizabeth could feel dampness even through her thick coat. Her knitted mittens were sopping, and her large pretty scarf, the one that she had thought would help keep her hair dry, had absorbed so much icy water that it was now a cold wet weight on her head and neck. If she wrung out the lower half of her dress, exposed from under her coat while riding on horseback, she would probably have enough water to drink for a week.

Elizabeth realized in dismay that even if they could find shelter, she'd have nothing dry to change into. The wind and driving sleet had managed to get into their traveling bags.

* * *

It was a miracle that they had even seen the smoke coming from the chimney through the weather, which seemed to change from snow to rain to sleet and back to rain every other minute. If they hadn't ridden within 40 feet of it and smelled the burning logs of wood, Elizabeth realized that they probably would have missed the cabin entirely.

The woman who opened the shabby wooden door looked quizzically at the group of four wet cold strangers standing on her porch as Jack introduced himself and explained that they were hoping they could impose on her for a place to stay. As the woman stepped aside and allowed them to enter, she called out to someone in the other room.

Turning back to close the door, she got her first look at Elizabeth who was lowering her scarf and shaking out her wet hair. The woman gave Elizabeth a startled look but quickly recovered as two men joined the group from the other room. Elizabeth noticed that the men also seemed startled to see her, and she realized that she must look a mess. Her hair was stringy and wet, she had mud splattered on her clothes, and her face was pale white from the cold wetness.

* * *

"These should fit you", the woman said gruffly as she handed Elizabeth some dry clothes.

"They'll do just fine", Jack said graciously. "We thank you for helping us out. It's brutal outside."

Elizabeth looked in dismay at the faded pair of pants and the tattered shirt the woman had handed to her and headed to the only other room in the house.

The simple messy bed in the room let her know that someone slept here; she had no idea where the other two occupants of the home slept. The room also had a small dresser with a mirror, and a chair that didn't look very sturdy with clothes thrown on. Other than those items and a pair of dirt-covered boots standing in the corner, the room was bare.

When Elizabeth came out of the bedroom, the three Mounties, wearing long underwear or dry clothes which they had salvaged from their bags, had already stripped off their wet garments and draped some on the backs of chairs near the fireplace. There was no room for modesty in a two room cabin crowded with seven people.

Elizabeth took her wet clothes and laid them out on the stone hearth, where their jackets, boots, and socks were already lined up. She saw that Jack had emptied out her bag, which was soaked through. Her extra dress now jostled for space with other damp clothes on a clothesline strung across the side of the room. The cabin was small enough that the heat from the fireplace and stove would most likely dry everything regardless of where in the room it was.

Rolling up the long pants legs so she wouldn't trip, Elizabeth made her way through the crowd to the stove where a pot of coffee was the only familiar and inviting thing in the cabin.

"There ain't no room for all of you in the cabin. Once you're dry, you can sleep in the barn. Horses will help keep you warm enough. The woman can sleep here on the couch. I'll take the floor in the bedroom", the younger man said.

"No, that's okay", Elizabeth said hurriedly. "I don't mind sleeping in the barn. I prefer to be with my husband. But thank you for your offer."

"Suit yourself"

As their clothes dried, the travelers took out provisions and heated up some food on the old pot belly stove while their hosts set the simple table with bread and then added some potatoes and carrots to the pot on the stove.

* * *

Over dinner, their hosts explained that they were new to Canada, having just arrived from Wyoming. They had rented the cabin and barn temporarily and were thinking about settling in the area to raise cattle.

"We're from a small town called Hope Valley. It's several hours away by horse and then by train and small enough that you probably haven't heard of it," Elizabeth remarked as she passed the bread to Jack and tried to make conversation.

"Never heard of it. But then we've only been in Canada for two weeks. As my wife said, we just got here from Wyoming."

* * *

Before leaving the warmth of the small cabin to settle in the barn, Elizabeth had insisted on getting the mailing address so she could later repay their hosts for their hospitality. When the woman had brusquely said it wasn't necessary, Jack chuckled.

"My wife was brought up a lady and she insists on maintaining etiquette even under the most unusual circumstances."

Realizing it was useless to argue, the woman took a piece of paper from the trash bin, scribbled their name and the address to the nearest post office on the unused back side, and handed it to Elizabeth.

* * *

The barn was small but sturdy. With seven horses, it was also warm, smelly and crowded. Elizabeth had given up on having any privacy from the other Mounties traveling with them and was just hoping not to get stepped on by a horse.

"Did you see the way they looked at me when I walked into the cabin? I must have looked a dreadful mess", Elizabeth complained to Jack as she pushed piles of straw into bed areas for them while Jack rested his ankle, now aching from the long day.

Jack laughed. "They were probably just surprised to see a beautiful woman traveling in this weather with three Mounties."

* * *

Elizabeth tossed restlessly in the straw as she listened to the heavy breathing of the three men in the darkness. There was no way she could sleep through this, she recognized. As she lay next to Jack, she realized there was something else that bothered her. She had noticed it earlier in passing, but hadn't given it much thought. Now, unable to sleep, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally she stood up, and lit the lantern, being careful to keep it away from any straw . Elizabeth rummaged through her pants pockets and pulled out the scrap of paper with the address of the post office written on it. Turning over the paper, she read the words she had noticed on the other side. It was a list of some sort.

"What are you doing?", Jack whispered hoarsely when he woke up and noticed Elizabeth standing in the dim light.

"Jack, something's not right.", Elizabeth said as she knelt down next to him.

"What's not right is that you're awake. Now go to sleep."

"I'm serious, Jack. Something's not right. Look at this", she instructed him as she put the scrap of paper and lantern in front of him and pointed to the third item on the list, "Grey pelts", she read aloud.

Jack sighed and propped himself up on his elbow, hoping that if he indulged Elizabeth, she'd let him go back to sleep. He studied the list in the lantern's glow before asking, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes! . . . Wait, what are you thinking?"

"They're poachers. And Elizabeth, I know I'm a Mountie, but right now, I don't care if they're poachers. I'm tired", he said as he moved to lay his head back down.

"No, that's not what I'm thinking", Elizabeth said in disgust. "Why would I be thinking they're poachers?", she asked with wrinkled brows and a frown. _Men, where do they get their ideas?_

"Because they have pelts listed. Maybe they're poachers. What are you thinking?", Jack asked tiredly.

"Look at how she spelled the color of the pelt", Elizabeth said as she pointed to the word, poking it with her finger.

"I don't see anything wrong. What am I missing?", he asked wearily.

"Jack, they said they were from the United States and that they've only been in Canada for two weeks."

"So?"

"So this is her handwriting. See it's the same as the address she wrote down on the other side. She should have spelled grey, G-R-A-Y. That's how they spell it in the United States, . . . unless you're talking about Earl Grey tea or greyhounds, which they're not."

"Are you sure? "

"I'm a teacher! Of course, I'm sure."

"Maybe she's just a bad speller or she quickly picked up on doing it the Canadian way."

"Don't be silly, Jack. It's a simple word. If she's been spelling it G-R-A-Y her whole life, she's not going to suddenly spell it G-R-E-Y just because she now lives in Canada for two weeks."

"Elizabeth, why in God's name does this matter in the middle of the night?", Jack asked as the other Mounties started to toss, their sleep disrupted by the voices.

"I think they're lying to us about not being from Canada."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. But I think they've been in Canada a lot longer than they want us to believe. For some reason, they don't want us to know that."

"Okay. Tomorrow morning I'll ask some questions and get to the bottom of it. Now go to sleep, okay?"

"Okay."

"Jack?", whispered Elizabeth a moment later.

"What now?"

"What did you think of them?"

"I thought they were not very talkative, which I would appreciate from you right now."

Elizabeth ignored his barb as she lay still in the straw, her mind wide awake.

"How old do you think she is?", she whispered.

"I don't know. Probably not much older than you. She just looks like she's had a hard life."

"I wonder how she got that scar on her face", Elizabeth said quietly as Jack fell back asleep.

 **Up Next: Chapter 6**


	6. Chapter 6 - The Apple

**Readers: To the reviewer who nicely urged me to post this weekend, this one's for you. Thanks for the extra motivation! Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 6 –The Apple**

The storm, with its howling wind, thunder, and ice making a plink plink sound as it hit the barn, had ended long ago, but Elizabeth still couldn't sleep. _I shouldn't have taken that nap on the train,_ she thought. _I'll be exhausted tomorrow morning when we leave here._

It wasn't just the earlier nap, or the men snoring, or the noise from the horses in the stalls or tied up to the wooden posts that kept Elizabeth from sleeping. It was her memories. The cold wet weather had brought her back to the night she had been injured.

Her repeated attempts to banish the images from her mind did no good so she tried to focus instead on something she remembered that she had once read in college. Her second year of school, she had taken a short course in Philosophy. She had found most of the course to be pointless, but she had been impressed by something that Friedrich Nietzsche had written. _What does not kill me makes me stronger._ As she tried to fall asleep, Elizabeth repeated that phrase to herself.

It didn't do any good.

Elizabeth still couldn't sleep.

 _What doesn't kill me just makes me irritable,_ she thought in frustration.

* * *

For the rest of her life, Elizabeth would be grateful that she had taken the nap on the train, that the men snored, and that the horses snorted occasionally. Otherwise, she might not have been awake at 4:00 in the morning.

The creaking of the barn door opening was so subtle that the men didn't even stir. Elizabeth opened her eyes but otherwise didn't move. From the position of her body as she lay in the straw, she couldn't see anything even if the moonlight had illuminated the entrance to the barn. She heard a horse give a small snort and then the soft padding of hoofs moving across the ground.

The barn door creaking again indicated that it had closed. The wind could have been causing the door to sway on its hinges, but something in Elizabeth told her that it wasn't the wind.

Then all was silent.

She kept her eyes open and her ears alert, anticipating another sound, but all was quiet again. Finally, she closed her eyes, wishing that daylight would hurry up and arrive to this chilly, dark, and isolated barn.

Elizabeth imagined that if the other Mounties weren't there and if Jack wasn't so tired, they could have made this a romantic adventure . . . the two of them secluded in a barn with plenty of time. But the other Mounties were there and Jack was asleep. Elizabeth realized that she'd have to wait another night to enjoy Jack's romantic attention.

* * *

Ten minutes later, between the rhythmic breathing of the Mounties, Elizabeth heard a new sound.

 _Crackling._

Elizabeth lay quietly in the straw and listened for it again. A moment later she heard it.

 _There it is again_!

Sitting upright, she scanned the barn. She should have realized that it would be impossible to see anything in a dark barn in the middle of the night.

Except the barn wasn't totally dark. Even though it should have been.

Elizabeth 's eyes were drawn to the small flicker of light twenty feet away. As she stared curiously at it through the darkness for just a moment, it suddenly burst into a bright orange blaze. In an instant, the wooden barn wall glowed with flames, which raced to spread to the dry brittle straw carpeting the floor.

"Fire!" Elizabeth screamed.

"Fire!" she screamed again as she jumped up, falling in a tumble in the straw as her feet tangled in the blanket.

The men, only moments ago deep in slumber, scrambled to their feet, instantly alerted by her words.

"Get the horses!" David yelled as he grabbed his blanket and ran towards the front wall, the bottom half which was now in a blaze.

Logan quickly went to untie the horses, but there was nowhere for them to go. The fire had spread rapidly across the front of the barn, blocking the exit out the door. In their now agitated state, the horses would trample the others, so Logan left them tied up. Instead, he grabbed his blanket and ran to join Jack and David as they tried to smother and beat out the flames.

Elizabeth looked around in panic, searching for another way out of the burning building. The horse's bucket hanging on the stall wall caught her attention and she seized the heavy bucket off the nail. Stumbling under its weight, she quickly made her way towards the fire, water sloshing in the container.

"Get back!", Jack yelled to her when he saw her approaching out of the corner of his eye, but even as he yelled, he noticed her heaving the water onto the flames, and he quickly ordered "Get another bucket!"

* * *

Between the beating with the woolen blankets and the water buckets from each stall, the fire was out before it could spread its path of destruction to the other walls.

David, Logan, Jack, and Elizabeth, stood dazed and coughing in front of the charred wall, their eyes burning from the smoke.

"What the hell happened?" David asked as he looked at Elizabeth, her face illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the burned out wall. "Did you drop a lantern?"

"No!" Elizabeth said in shock. "My lantern's over there", she explained between coughs as she pointed to where she and Jack had been sleeping. "It started after someone let the horses out!"

The men, rubbing their irritated eyes, looked around in the dim light. For the first time, they realized that three horses, those belonging to their hosts, weren't in the barn.

* * *

The occupants of the cabin appeared to have managed to sleep through the sounds of the panicked horses and the loud voices of Elizabeth and the Mounties because they didn't come to their aid during the fire or initially appear at the cabin door when David knocked loudly on it.

When the knocking finally roused them, they explained that they had taken their horses from the barn to go early-morning hunting but then had changed their minds and gone back to sleep. They had tied up their horses outside the cabin so as not to bother those in the barn. They swore that they hadn't left a lantern at the barn.

When the Mounties searched the barn and found no broken lantern or pieces of glass near the starting place of the fire, everyone surmised that it must have been started by lightning from the storm hitting the barn.

Everyone but Elizabeth.

"But there wasn't any lightning or thunder at the time the fire started", Elizabeth noted.

"We probably slept through it", Logan offered.

"No!" Elizabeth said forcefully. "The storm had been over for hours."

"Lightning may have hit the barn earlier. A small spark can smolder for hours before bursting into a flame", David noted and the others agreed.

* * *

Elizabeth kept her thoughts to herself until she got Jack alone for a moment on a trip to the outhouse. She frowned when she saw him limping on his ankle as they walked. It certainly hadn't helped his injured ankle when he had jumped up from his sleep to fight the fire. Even though he didn't complain, Elizabeth knew Jack had re-injured it.

Elizabeth was hesitant to bring up her concerns to Jack. He had been so stressed the past month that she had been relieved that they had gotten away from Hope Valley and reminders of the night of her injury. She wasn't looking forward to having Jack stalk around her protectively like a watch dog if she let him know she was troubled. For that reason, she purposely made her concerns sound more like curiosity rather than the worry she actually felt.

"Jack, I think they started the fire. I don't trust them", she said as she nodded towards the cabin.

"Why would they possibly want to kill us? It doesn't make sense. We don't know them and we're leaving here soon anyway." Jack looked at her skeptically.

"I don't know but let's get out of here as soon as we can", Elizabeth suggested calmly.

"It was lightning, sweetie. That's all. It smoldered for hours probably. The sun will be up soon. We'll leave as soon as dawn breaks", Jack assured her with a smile.

* * *

By the time the sun came up two hours later, the four were ready to leave. Elizabeth would have liked to wash the acrid smell of smoke from her hair, but she wasn't about to delay their departure.

After calming down from the excitement of the fire and eating a warm meal of eggs and sausage, Elizabeth began to question her earlier worries. _They seem harmless enough_ , she reasoned. _And they did open their home to four strangers in a storm_. The cabin was oddly barren but, as they had explained, they had only arrived two weeks earlier. Despite just arriving and having little in the way of furniture, they had been gracious to offer their barn and their food for both dinner and breakfast. _Surely if they were trying to hurt us, they wouldn't have fed us first!,_ Elizabeth thought as she swallowed the last bite of scrambled eggs.

Elizabeth gathered up the empty plates and carried them outside to the water pump. As she rinsed them in the bucket collecting the cold water, Jack approached with a concerned look on his face. Standing close, he leaned over her shoulder and spoke quietly.

"Elizabeth, you once promised me that if I ever ignore something you say, or forgot something important or neglect you, you'd tell me."

Elizabeth nodded. "I remember."

"I'm sorry if I didn't pay enough attention to what you said earlier. Have they done anything specific to make you feel uneasy? Did they say something? Touch you? Did you overhear something?" His voice was hoarse with emotion as he spoke.

"No, It's fine. Just my overactive imagination. That's the writer in me. . . .They're just a little standoffish. That's all." Elizabeth assured him with a smile.

"Okay. We'll be leaving in a couple minutes."

* * *

The woman may not have been talkative but she did offer to let Elizabeth keep the clothing she had loaned her.

Politely refusing the offer, Elizabeth, took her own, now dry, clothes and returned to the simple bedroom to change outfits. She had been in the bedroom just once before, hours earlier when she had been wet and cold. Now she was dry and smelled of smoke.

Elizabeth looked around the room, wondering if perhaps it was more welcoming and homey in the daylight. But it wasn't. The simple bed was still simple and unmade. The dresser, mirror, and chair were still dusty and old. The only difference was that clothes were no longer thrown across the chair, and the pair of dirt-covered boots which had been standing in the corner was gone.

After changing quickly, Elizabeth placed the clothing neatly on the dresser and went outside to say goodbye to David and Logan.

* * *

"So you four are dividing up here?", the younger of the men asked as he watched the Mounties pack up.

"Yes. Constable Brady and I are heading farther north so we'll be taking the Robinson Pass. Constable Thornton and his wife will be going west. With all the precipitation last night and now the sun melting the snow and ice, the rivers may be a bit more difficult to cross, so we should get going", David explained as he packed his saddle bag.

After goodbyes were said, David and Logan rode off, and Elizabeth and Jack headed back towards the cabin to pack a few provisions for their longer trip. Elizabeth began to feel uncomfortable again as she caught the other woman watching her and then turning away when Elizabeth caught her gaze. _We're leaving in five minute_ s, she reassured herself.

"Thank you again for you hospitality, Emily", Elizabeth said as she put some slices of bread into her satchel bag, and the woman handed her a slab of cheese. Elizabeth thought of the irony of how just yesterday, when she had been on the train, she had wished there was another woman to talk to. This other woman was one of the least talkative women she had ever met. In fact, she seemed as eager for Elizabeth to leave as Elizabeth was to be gone.

"Here Elizabeth, catch", Jack said as he tossed her an apple to put in the satchel.

Elizabeth looked up too late and tried to catch the apple, but it tumbled out of her hands and fell to the floor, rolling across the wooden planks.

If Elizabeth hadn't dropped the apple, she and Jack would have left the small cabin and everything would have been fine. They would have been safe on their travels and after a few days of visiting Jack's upcoming assignment, they would have returned uninjured to Hope Valley.

But Elizabeth did drop the apple.

And that changed everything.

 **Up next : Chapter 7**


	7. Chapter 7 - Running

**Chapter 7 - Running**

The apple rolled on the wooden floor until it came to stop at Emily Gregorson's boot-covered feet. Bumping into her right boot, it stopped and stayed peacefully still.

Elizabeth gave Jack a look of exasperation as she bent down to pick up the fruit. "I hope you didn't bruise it", she said in frustration. "Or you'll be the one eating -".

Elizabeth's voice trailed off as she reached towards the apple. She froze with her hand outstretched, her fingers on its red skin.

The decorative tooling and silver tips of Emily's black boots, just inches from Elizabeth's face, were now visible after Emily's recent walk outside. The woman's steps through the melting snow had innocently removed the dirt which had earlier concealed the details.

Elizabeth had seen the details before.

That time, like now, her face had been just inches away. But that time, she had been injured.

Staring at the boots, Elizabeth's mind raced back to how scared she had been spending that night in the hollow tree. Almost immediately those thoughts were replaced with her thoughts of Jack.

More than her injuries, Elizabeth thought about how Jack had changed because of what had happened. For weeks he had been sullen, protective, worried about everything, suspicious of everyone but her.

Elizabeth grasped the apple in her left hand and stood up. She moved slowly and deliberately as her anger rose.

Jack, his back turned as he buttoned his jacket, had no idea what Elizabeth had seen.

But Elizabeth knew.

Without a doubt.

She knew who the woman standing in front of her was. What she had done.

"You bitch!" Elizabeth said as she slapped the other woman across the face.

* * *

Jack spun around at the sound. "What –", but his question was cut off as Emily recovered almost immediately from the shock. Emily drew back her fist and before Jack could react, she landed her knuckles on the pale white skin of Elizabeth's cheek, sending her stumbling backwards into Jack's arms.

"You're Lee!" Elizabeth said angrily even as she winced in pain and held a hand to her now red cheek while struggling in Jack's arms to regain her footing.

"My husband calls me Lee", Emily replied curiously as she calmly pulled out a gun and focused her piercing blue eyes on Elizabeth and Jack.

* * *

"Take them into the woods and shoot them there. I'll ride north a bit to make sure the other Mounties don't return", Lee instructed Bruce as they stood outside the cabin.

"Sam, you go pack up our things and get their horses. We're leaving here", she added, putting her foot in a stirrup and mounting her horse.

* * *

Walking towards the woods with a gun pointed at them, Jack kept his hand protectively on Elizabeth's back. Jack's own gun was now in the hands of Lee. He felt the thin bulge of his small pocketknife hidden in his boot; unfortunately, it wouldn't win in a fight against three armed enemies.

Knowing that the odds of him and Elizabeth surviving increased dramatically if he only had to fight one person, Jack slowed his pace, delaying their entry into the woods as long as possible. The longer it took them to get to the woods, the farther away Lee would be when Jack turned on Bruce. If Sam was in the cabin or barn, out of eyesight, it would be even better.

"You don't need to do this", Jack tried to rationalize with Bruce.

"Actually, I do. Your wife is a hard woman to kill. Let's hope the third time's the charm."

"Just tell me why", Elizabeth demanded.

"You got too close to us all those weeks ago. We weren't sure what you had seen and heard. We thought for sure you'd die between the bullet and the weather. Or some animal would get you. And then last night, we didn't know if you'd recognize us or not, so we set that little fire. It seemed the easiest way to get rid of all four of you at once and leave the least amount of evidence. . . . And now here we are again. As I said, let's hope the third time's the charm." Bruce had no sympathy in his voice.

"Maybe you should take the hint and just stop trying", Jack said coldly.

"Shut up and keep walking", Bruce ordered lazily.

Elizabeth was struck by how routine this seemed for the man. Marching two people to their deaths didn't seem to bother his conscience in the least bit.

Elizabeth wondered if maybe this wasn't his first time.

* * *

"Fall", Jack whispered to Elizabeth as they got closer to the edge of the woods.

Elizabeth hesitated for just a moment, but didn't question Jack as she obeyed his order and tumbled forward.

"Hurry up. Get her off the ground", Bruce ordered impatiently as he watched Jack reach down towards Elizabeth.

Ignoring Elizabeth's prone body, Jack swiftly picked up the large broken tree limb lying in the melting snow. Turning quickly he swung it towards Bruce. The heavy wood hit the man's elbow with a powerful whack, setting off the gun and sending it flying through the air. It landed 15 feet away and disappeared into a deep snow bank.

"Run!" Jack shouted at Elizabeth just before Bruce tackled him and the men landed in a tussle in the snow.

Ignoring Jack's command, Elizabeth began frantically searching the snow in the area where the gun had landed.

Jack was reaching for his knife when Bruce landed a punch, splitting Jack's lip and sending bright red drops of blood to mar the otherwise pristine white snow.

"Sam! Sam is coming!", an empty-handed Elizabeth yelled frantically to Jack as the men continued to trade punches. Even though Jack was now getting the better of Bruce, he would be no match for two men.

Leaving a wounded Bruce on the ground, Jack grabbed Elizabeth's hand and they began running through the woods.

* * *

Tripping over fallen branches and moving past thorny bushes, the two raced through the forest until the cramp in Elizabeth's side turned into a stabbing pain and she tugged on Jack's hand, indicating she needed to rest.

Realizing that he would have to give her a moment to breathe before continuing, Jack pulled her against a large tree. Leaning against the trunk, Elizabeth sucked in air, her chest expanding in and out.

Elizabeth waited until her panting had subsided before speaking. "I suppose it would have been better if I hadn't let her know I recognized her boots", she said apologetically.

"You think?!" Jack yelled angrily at her.

"I'm sorry", he said quickly when he saw the look of hurt in her eyes.

"You certainly have changed a lot since we first met", he added with a mixture of astonishment and pride as he took in a deep breath of air. "It was a pretty good slap", he noted with a weak smile.

"I slapped Viola and Julie a few times when we were younger and got in stupid fights. Of course, I never called them a name like that."

"We can reminisce about your childhood later. We need to get out of here" , Jack said as he grabbed her hand and looked at her questioningly.

Elizabeth nodded that she was ready to go.

The sound of the gunshot startled Elizabeth and she jumped in surprise even as Jack fell from the bullet.

* * *

"You're hurt." Elizabeth stated the obvious as they kept moving, pushing brush out of their way and trampling over fallen branches. Jack had barely hesitated after being shot. Ignoring the pain, he had scrambled to his feet and grabbed Elizabeth's hand before starting off again.

Elizabeth had wanted Jack to stop so she could get a better look at his wound, but he had refused. Out of the corner of her eye, she tried to see if the blood stain on his pants leg was getting larger.

"We've got to keep moving", Jack ordered harshly, as he pulled her along.

Elizabeth kept silent but sped up to match his stride. With Jack's injuries it was now easier for her, even in her long heavy skirt and heeled boots, to keep up with his pace. Despite last night's cold temperature, the weather was warming up with the sun and cloudless sky. Elizabeth was glad she wasn't wearing a coat while she ran. It hadn't crossed anyone's mind to allow her to stop and put on her pretty green coat when Lee had earlier pointed a gun at them and marched them out of the cabin to their planned deaths. _At least there's that to be thankful for. I can run faster without it_ , she thought ironically.

* * *

After another ten minutes, they were more than a mile from the cabin and hadn't heard anyone following them since the gunshot. Finally, Jack slowed down. Faster than a walk, but not much more. Whether it was due to his pain or to give Elizabeth a chance to breathe, she didn't know.

"I'm sorry, Jack. For all of it", Elizabeth apologized as he helped her over a fallen tree.

"It's okay. It's not your fault", he assured her as he focused on keeping them moving.

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not, sweetie. It just happened."

Elizabeth didn't argue anymore but she knew it was her fault despite what Jack said. She was the one who had gone riding alone all those weeks ago. She was the one who hadn't identified Emily as 'Lee' soon enough. _My god, we ate two meals with them and slept in their barn and I wore her clothes!_ She was the one who had slapped Lee rather than simply ride away from the cabin with Jack.

Yes, it was most definitely her fault that Jack had a bullet hole in his leg and they were running for their lives. Only a man who truly loved his wife would say otherwise.

Trying not to leave an obvious path of footprints, they avoided deep patches of snow and followed deer trails as they moved parallel to the sounds of the river. Jack glanced back every once in a while to make sure his blood wasn't leaving a trail. From the amount of blood he was losing and the fact that he could still move his leg, he surmised that the bullet had merely grazed him. _Elizabeth and I will have matching scars from our bullet wounds,_ he thought wryly.

* * *

Although Jack's injuries now slowed him considerably and he was limping, it wasn't him that caused the two of them to tumble down the embankment.

Elizabeth screamed as her foot slipped on a patch of ice and she slid on the ground, pulling Jack with her until their hands unclasped as the tumbled down the slope.

Jack's body rolled over and over until he fell four feet through the air, his right shoulder smashing into a rock, before he bounced off and landed face down in the ground near the cliff's edge. The pain seared through him.

Without looking at his arm, which was now dangling pathetically at his side, Jack knew from the pain alone that he had dislocated his shoulder.

Trying not to move too much, he looked around for Elizabeth.

"Jack." Her voice was hesitant and frightened.

Jack looked around in puzzlement. He could tell that her voice was close but he couldn't see her.

"Jack", she called out tentatively. Her tone was oddly calm and scared at the same time. As if she was afraid of her plight but had accepted it.

Finally he saw her barely visible hands clinging to a root on the edge of the cliff.

Moving as quickly as his injuries allowed, Jack stumbled to the edge and peered over, fighting back his fears. Elizabeth was dangling 20 feet above the churning river.

Lying on his stomach, Jack grabbed Elizabeth's forearm with his left hand.

When Elizabeth saw the pain in Jack's face, the sweat on his brow, she knew he was hurt. Badly.

When she saw the anguish in his eyes, she knew more than she wanted to know. He couldn't help her.

Hearing voices off in the distance getting closer, Elizabeth knew what she had to do.

"Let me go", she said urgently. "You need to hide."

"I am not letting you go!", Jack insisted. He knew he was losing blood from the leg. He could handle that. But the dislocated shoulder prevented him from pulling her up. He just didn't want to admit it.

"There's no time! You can't pull me up. You need to hide before they get here", she pleaded with him.

"No! Just hang on. I'll pull you up." Even as he said the words, Jack wondered how it would be possible with one arm.

"Jack, look at me", she instructed him in a firm voice. Jack suddenly felt like one of her students being scolded.

"I'll be okay. Take care of _yourself_. Hide. _Please_ ", she beseeched. "I love you."

"No!", he forcefully demanded as he realized what she was going to do.

But Elizabeth ignored him.

She looked down at the water swirling below her and then yanked her arm away from Jack.

Jack desperately reached out his arm and screamed for her as Elizabeth fell through the air and disappeared under the surface of the water 20 feet below.

His eyes frantically searched the turbulent water as it flowed below him.

Gone.

She was gone.

One moment he had been holding his wife's arm and then . . . she was . . . gone.

Jack broke his eyes away from the rapidly moving current only when he heard Bruce and Sam yelling to each other a mere 40 yards away.

Dragging himself away from the edge, Jack crouched on the ground and hid in a nearby thicket until he heard the men, now on horseback, go past him.

* * *

The men were barely out of earshot, when Jack released his tears. His throat made a strangled cry as he slumped over and held his head in his one hand. The other arm, which had betrayed him by being useless, hung down at his shaking side. His body trembled with sobs as he realized with almost certainty that his wife was dead.

If the fall hadn't killed her, the icy temperature of the water would. And if by some miracle Elizabeth managed to survive both the fall and the cold water, the raging river would most likely drown her.

Jack didn't know how long he sat there crying in the dirt and snow. Slowly the tears stopped and his ragged breathing became steadier as he took deep slow breaths to calm himself. Then he wiped his face dry with the left sleeve of his shirt, stood up, and tried to concentrate on his injuries.

The shoulder was the least life-threatening but most painful injury and it rendered his right arm useless. He knew it would be much easier if he had someone to help him, but he'd have to do it himself. Picking up a heavy rock, he held it in his right hand. Taking several deep breaths, he ignored the pain and tried to relax. He let his right arm hang down, using the rock and gravity to his advantage while he moved his body.

It was all over in a matter of seconds. The sound and feeling of the bone moving back into its joint brought immediate relief of the sharp intense pain and muscle spasms, leaving only a dull soreness.

With the ability to use his arm again, he wiped new tears from his eyes and turned his attention to leg. He took out his handkerchief and tore it partially in half before wrapping it around his bloodied thigh.

 _It's going to be okay_ , he told himself as he wiped his nose on his sleeve and continued bandaging his leg.

 _She's going to be okay._ _She probably already found help downstream and she's waiting somewhere safe for me._ He sniffled and shook his head to clear away visions he didn't want of her body laying broken and wet in a river. Instead he imagined her waiting for him warmly with a cup of tea and asking him what took so long to find her.

He knew he was lying to himself. But to be honest and admit that his wife was likely dead was more than he could bear. He blinked away his tears and tried to concentrate on his leg.

After securing the fabric with a tight knot, he put weight on his leg and grimaced in pain. His ankle had swollen again. He didn't dare take off his boot to relieve the pressure; if he did, even for a short while, he'd wouldn't be able to get the boot back on. Looking around, he found a long stick and broke off the upper half with a quick snap. With the wood now the right length, he used it as a cane and began limping forward.

He walked following the direction of the flowing river, knowing that Bruce and Sam were ahead of him. Jack reasoned that as long as they were ahead of him, he was safe. At the pace he was going, they'd quickly be long gone.

He willed himself to hold onto something Elizabeth had said to him. It wasn't what she had said when she yanked her arm out of his hand. And it wasn't all the talks they had about planning for a family one day, or even all the times she had told him that she loved him forever. It was far more simple and far less emotional than that.

Jack clung to her simple words as if his future depended on them.

Because if he was going to be happy again, it did.

 _That's because you still don't know everything about me", she had teased. "Every summer we used to go to a resort in the mountains. There were summer cottages and a big gorgeous hotel. The town has a spring-fed lake with a small beach and little shops. We would go boating, and dancing, and play cards and just relax for a few weeks every summer. In the middle of the lake, about ¼ mile out, there's a floating dock. We would race out there and then lay exhausted on the wood while the sun warmed us. I actually became quite a good swimmer."_

" _I actually became quite a good swimmer"._

Those were the words Jack was relying on.

 **Up next: Chapter 8**


	8. Chapter 8- The Journey to Reunite

**Dear Readers: Thank you so much for your reviews and for "following", and "favoriting" my stories. It really is a strong motivation for me to write**.

 **Chapter 8 – The Journey to Reunite**

 _I can't breathe!_ Elizabeth thought hysterically as her head broke the surface of the water. It wasn't the long plunge into the churning water or being battered by the current that kept her from breathing. It was the cold. The ice-cold piercing temperature of the river water.

As Elizabeth frantically tried to keep her head above the moving water, she gasped for air. It was as if her body didn't remember how to, or simply couldn't, breathe in the cold. For a moment, she hysterically wondered if her lungs had actually frozen.

 _Calm, remain calm_ , she told herself even as the water sloshed over her head, forcing her to close her eyes.

The initial shock of the cold water turned from stinging gasping pain to shivering numbness.

 _You're breathing. You're breathing,_ she repeated to herself as she tried to calm her hysteria.

Once she realized that her body, after a few terrifying moments of shock, reacted and was pulling air into her lungs, Elizabeth mentally tried to pace herself.

 _Slower. Slower_ , she instructed her lungs, which she knew were moving too rapidly.

Her organs had gone from not working at all to suddenly working too fast. She was hyperventilating but seemed powerless to stop it. _Slower! Slower!_ she thought desperately.

She instinctively moved her arms in the water trying to stay afloat. _You can do it. You've been in cold lake water before. This is no different._

She ignored the water spraying in her face, and concentrated on listening to her deliberate breaths, which resulted in a more natural breathing rate. At least more natural than it had been a moment earlier.

Elizabeth quickly realized that she had a new problem.

The weight of her dress was dragging her down even as the current was pushing her forward. With renewed terror, she realized that it was impossible to kick her legs which were imprisoned by the layers of wet fabric.

A swirl of water rose up and washed over her, violently turning her around and causing her stomach to revolt.

Initially frightened, she flailed about until she recognized that Mother Nature had helped her. Rather than fight to swim in the river, Elizabeth now stayed in her new position, with her head upstream. She lay on her back, her feet pointed downstream. Pulling her dress up to her thighs, her numb fingers clinging to it, she struggled to keep the top half of her boots poking out of the water as she allowed the current to carry her downstream.

* * *

Elizabeth hoped that by going feet first she had a better chance of avoiding a deadly head injury. If she came in contact with any large rocks or floating logs, her boots and legs would absorb the initial shock rather than her brain. _At least that's my plan_. Right now it was a pretty basic plan. _Keep from drowning_. _Keep my head from being smashed. Stay Alive._

Elizabeth wanted to keep her mouth open to gulp in air, but she quickly began to choke on the water as it poured over her head with each passing second.

When her back banged into a rock, she screamed in pain and was rewarded with another mouthful of river water. After that, she gritted her teeth whenever her body was tossed against rocks by the strong current.

The river, swollen with the rain and melting snow, moved at a furious speed, taking Elizabeth with it. Farther and farther away from the only man she had ever loved.

* * *

After what seemed forever of being tossed about, dunked under the water until she thought she would drown, and then thrown back to the surface, the water became calmer as the river widened substantially.

Not knowing how long the calmness would last, Elizabeth flipped over onto her stomach, changed body directions, and swam diagonally toward the shore, allowing the flow of the current to help move her, still swiftly, but more gently than before. The top layer of her torn dress trailed behind her, peacefully skimming the water, while the other layers of fabric seemed determined to pull her down and drown her.

When she felt her heavy boots dipping down and occasionally scraping silt on the bottom of the riverbed, Elizabeth stretched her arms downward and found that the water was now only about two feet deep.

She continued to move, her teeth chattering in the bitter cold, floating on her stomach, her arms outstretched with her numb fingertips walking along the river bottom.

She cursed her heavy clothes and boots, the cold water, and the trio of Emily, Bruce, and Sam.

* * *

The water became clearer as it became shallower. Little brown and silver fish darted under Elizabeth's body and she wondered how they managed to look so peaceful when she felt so battle-worn.

Pulling herself up on some rocks along the shore, she glanced at her hands and saw a mixture of water and blood dripping from her scraped knuckles. A large piece of skin was scraped off her one thumb and the blood running out of it became thicker as the water dripped away. Elizabeth wiped her hair out of her face, messily transferring a smear of blood onto it from her hand as she felt the torn skin on her forehead.

For a brief ridiculous moment, Elizabeth was grateful that she was cold. She wasn't looking forward to having pain when she regained her sense of feeling.

Taking deep breaths, she lifted her head. The morning sun was out and the sky was cloudless. For the second time that day, Elizabeth thanked Mother Nature. _At least there's one female on my side today._

As she looked around, all Elizabeth saw was a forest covered in melting snow and ice.

She had no idea where she was.

She was wet, trembling uncontrollably from the cold, and all alone in the wilderness.

Those realizations didn't bother her as much as the one she didn't want to think about.

She had no idea if Jack was still alive.

* * *

When Eliabeth tried to stand up, her knees buckled under her, refusing to support her tired water-drenched body.

As she lay exhausted on the cold ground, she took in the beauty around her. Elizabeth determinedly decided that it was too beautiful a day for Jack to become a widower. . . . She prayed it was too beautiful a day for her to become a widow.

Steeling herself for a trek to find help, Elizabeth told her body to stop shivering. But once again it refused to listen to her desires, and quivered and shook violently in an effort to warm itself and stave off death.

 _What doesn't kill me makes me stronger. . . ._

 _. . . Let's hope that's true_.

Between tumbling down the embankment and the river's torture, Elizabeth knew that her body would be covered in black and blue bruises in a few days' time. She didn't care.

She was planning on having Jack slowly kiss every inch of her body, even with all its black and blue bruises, until she sighed in pleasure.

And she planned on kissing Jack's battered body until he did the same.

 _That bitch Emily and her family are not going to get in my way!,_ Elizabeth declared defiantly as she stood up.

 _It may be my fault that I slapped Emily instead of just leaving the cabin, but she started this. She is not going to ruin my life. She is not going to win!_

Elizabeth's numb feet stumbled in the snow as she chose a direction and started moving.

* * *

Jack had walked, or more accurately, stumbled and limped, for three hours. He knew that he should have gone at least 12 miles in that time. But with a sprained ankle and a bullet wound in the thigh, he realized it was more likely that he had only gone about four miles.

He had twice re-tied the strip of fabric on his leg. It wasn't a deep wound, but it needed stitches. The strip of fabric, now wet and red with blood, wasn't a good substitute for needle and thread.

Jack tripped on a root, and caught himself on a tree trunk before falling.

 _I'll get her a pretty handkerchief. She'll like that. I just have to think of a good monogram for this one._

Jack thought about the handkerchiefs he had previously given Elizabeth with monograms for "Walking Disaster", "The One", and "Mrs. Jack Thornton"- that one was Elizabeth's favorite, she had told him.

 _When we get back to town, I'll write to Right House Department store in Hamilton and order another one. I'll send them a money order. They probably still have my last order forms. It should arrive in three weeks. Maybe four. I'll surprise her with it. Yeah, that's what I'll do. She'll like that._

 _I just have to come up with something special for the monogram. And pick a color of thread. What color were the last monograms?_

It was a mental game.

A part of Jack knew that.

Thinking of the color of thread. Purple? Orange? Green? Lace or no lace on the edges? Calculating the amount of tax. The amount of postage. How many days it would take for his letter to get to Hamilton. Thinking of a monogram. Maybe just one initial this time.

He played the game of denial as he trod through the forest. Anything to keep from thinking of the more likely reality.

His mind wasn't ready to think of a life without ever seeing Elizabeth again.

So his mind pathetically allowed him to consider the exacting details of the simple task of ordering a handkerchief.

 _She'll like another handkerchief. And kisses. I'll give her lots of kisses._

* * *

Jack knew his shoulder, now a dull ache, should be in a sling, but he had neither the means nor the energy to handle it. Exhausted and thirsty from the walk, he grabbed a handful of snow and let it melt in his mouth. He was less than 15 feet from the river, which now had a low bank and had widened and calmed down. Any sensible Mountie, for that matter any sensible person, would have simply gone to the river to drink. With its fresh rain water and melting snow, the river, fed from springs, was probably safe enough to drink.

But Jack couldn't.

He couldn't put his hands in the river and touch the same water that may have killed his wife.

 _Don't be silly. She's alive waiting downstream for me._ _Just drink the water._

But he couldn't. So he ate the snow and moved on.

* * *

The dog took Elizabeth by surprise. It ran towards her, excited to have something new to sniff after having given up on finding the elusive fox.

The black and tan hound inhaled her scent, trying to decide what to make of the shivering wet woman who had approached from a distance and was now on the far edge of the family property. She had no food in her pocket, which was a disappointment to the dog. But he sensed that she didn't pose any threat.

Elizabeth bent down and put her numb hands on the dog's head. When the dog didn't make any motion to bite her, Elizabeth wrapped her arms around it, hugging it tightly. Elizabeth had no love for the dog; she merely wanted its body heat.

It was so warm that Elizabeth didn't want to let go. She yearned to take off her sodden boots and have the dog sit on her feet until the feeling came back in them.

But the dog, knowing it wasn't going to get a treat, wiggled itself free from Elizabeth's embrace, its long ears flapping against its head.

Elizabeth sternly looked the animal in the eyes.

"Go home. Home", she ordered the dog.

When the dog turned and started off as if knowing to obey her command, Elizabeth hurriedly followed.

* * *

The trees had thinned out until there was nothing left but a rolling valley. A patchwork of lush grass and snow with the river meandering through it.

The men saw Jack at the same time he saw them. The two men on horseback, coming over a slight mound, stopped for a quick moment and conversed with each other before hurrying their horses in Jack's direction.

Even from a distance, Jack recognized the familiar and distinctive red jacket that only a Mountie would wear and he hurriedly limped towards the men.

"Constable Jack Thornton?" the Mountie on horseback called out as he reached Jack.

Jack nodded wearily and then furrowed his brow in puzzlement, "How'd you know my name?"

"Your wife told us. She's worried sick about you", the Mountie answered as he hopped down from his horse and grabbed his first aid kit.

"My wife?" Jack's voice was weak and desperate. "My wife? Elizabeth?"

"She showed up at Mr. Mason's ranch a couple hours ago", the Mountie explained as he motioned to the older man on horseback.

"Is she okay?", Jack asked worriedly and in a daze, not yet comprehending that Elizabeth had been well enough to send the men to look for him.

"She was wet and pretty cold. So pale I wasn't sure she had any blood left in her. Told us what happened. She wanted to come with us to find you, but we insisted she stay behind and get dry and warm. Feisty woman you got there", Mr. Mason said as he got down from his horse.

Jack's voice became more urgent. "Is she safe? Two men and a woman are –"

"Don't worry", Mr. Mason politely cut him off. "She's fine. I got people staying with her and I sent some of my ranch hands to look for the folks who did this to you."

The young Mountie with the first aid kit gently helped Jack sit on the ground and began tending to his wound. He was caught by surprise when Jack's eyes welled up and he began silently crying. The man stopped bandaging the bloodied leg and looked curiously at the sight of a wounded Mountie sitting dirty and bloodied on the ground with quiet tears rolling down his face. Not knowing how to react, he glanced over his shoulder at the older man.

Mr. Mason, who had a wife of his own, handed Jack a canteen of water, and smacked the other young Mountie on the shoulder. "Hurry up. Can't you tell he wants to see his wife as much as she wants to see him, you idiot."

* * *

"Interesting wife you've got there", Mr. Mason remarked over his shoulder at Jack, who balanced behind him on the horse's flank, as they rode through the valley.

"How so?"

"She came back all bedraggled. Clothes torn. Wet. So pale she looked like a ghost. As we were gathering men and weapons to look for you and go after the criminals, she tells us how she first suspected something was up because the woman's spelling was wrong. Then your wife realizes that she's still soaking wet. She starts apologizing for getting our couch wet and dripping water on our wood floors. . . She's bleeding from the hands, barely has a pulse, and she's apologizing for getting our couch wet and dripping water on our wood floor!" Mr. Mason shook his head in puzzled amazement.

Despite his fatigue, Jack grinned. "My wife was a teacher and a lady when we met. Somethings don't change. She's still got a thing about spelling and etiquette."

The older man smiled. "She'll be real happy to see you. 'Bout another 10 minutes 'til we get there."

* * *

"Does this one hurt?", Jack asked quietly, his voice just above a whisper, as his lips brushed the soft skin of Elizabeth's shoulder.

"How about this one?", he inquired as he moved his mouth farther down her naked body as they lay on the bed.

Elizabeth breathed in deeply and exhaled as Jack's tongue drew circles around the bruise on her rib cage.

When he finished circling the bruise, his warm breath hovered over it until he gently touched it with his lips.

Elizabeth thought about the bruises lower down on her body and caught her breath in anticipation.

Jack's took his time.

The cool wind blew against the windowpane and allowed a chill into the small bedroom, making the body heat from Jack's hands feel like warm syrup being poured on Elizabeth's bare body. His open palms smoothly caressed every surface of her skin.

When he found an injury, either a discolored patch of skin or skin scraped raw, he left light, barely-there touches with his fingertips before he followed with a trail of tender kisses.

His mouth kissed her flat belly as he murmured his thoughts to her, causing her to lean her head back and unfold her body even more. She didn't know which caused her heart to race more. His touches or his words.

His fingers stroked her thigh . . . gliding on the outside . . . the inside . . causing her to gasp and bite her lip . . . .down to her knee . . . up to her hip. . . . His open mouth following. He possessed every part of her.

He was strong when she wanted him to be strong. Gentle when she needed him to be gentle.

It seemed to take most of the morning for Jack's hands and mouth to move over every inch of Elizabeth's nude body as she lay stretched out beneath him on the rumpled sheets.

 _"_ My favorite part", he whispered as he kissed her wedding ring.

Their clothes from two days ago lay on the floor where they had been quickly discarded.

The couple hadn't even bothered getting dressed yesterday. They stayed in their room, eating the simple food delivered to them by Mrs. Mason, who seemed humored by the young married couple. She left them trays of bacon and oatmeal, bread and bowls of warm stew. A jug of cider. A note telling them to take their time recuperating from their ordeal.

It had been three days since they had been marched out of the cabin, since Jack had been shot, since Elizabeth had been beaten by the river.

Three days since they had been reunited at the Masons ranch. Jack and Elizabeth still hadn't gotten enough of each other.

Elizabeth smiled as she put her hands on Jack's strong shoulders and pushed his back flat against the mattress. She leaned over her naked husband, her long hair falling down and skimming the muscles of his chest.

Jack, knowing it was Elizabeth's turn to tend to his bruises, looked up at her and returned her smile.

Recuperating had never felt so good before.

 **Up next: Chapter 9 :The Saloon – The first of six**

 **Dear Readers: This story's not over just yet!**


	9. Chapter 9 - The Saloon-The First of Six

**Chapter 9 – The Saloon – The first of six**

The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the sound of a single bird chirping outside the window in the otherwise quiet world.

The second thing she noticed was the faint taste of cinnamon, chocolate, and wine still lingering in her mouth. She rolled her tongue around in her mouth trying to get more of it, but there was only the faintest remnants of flavor from the night before.

The third thing she noticed was that part of her body was cold while the other part was warm. Even in her semi-conscious state, she knew that was normal.

 _I have to open my eyes_ , she thought. The process was slow. First she formed the thought. Then she urged her body to act on it.

 _Oh never, mind. I'm too tired_. Her body shivered slightly at the chill in the air.

"You've got to stop throwing off the blanket in the middle of the night", Jack said sleepily as he reached out his hand and dragged the woolen blanket up over her naked back.

She was lying on top of his chest. His warm body heating hers, except for her bare backside which had been exposed to the cool morning air seeping in through the thin window pane.

If the couple wasn't so tired from last night's party, one of them would have gotten out of bed, ventured in bare feet across the cool floor, and put a log or two in the wood-burning stove.

Instead, they fell back sleep. Wrapped in each other's arms and now covered by the blanket.

* * *

When Elizabeth opened her eyes again, her mind tried to figure out why she was so lazy and tired. Then she remembered the previous night. It seemed that the whole town had come out to dance and laugh and bid farewell to the Thorntons. By ten o'clock, the students had gone home to their beds; their bellies full of delicious chili, biscuits, and Abigail's famous desserts. But the saloon had still been crowded with well-wishers. Men slapping Jack on the back and shaking his hand. Women wiping away soft tears as they hugged Elizabeth.

It had been almost 3:00 am by the time the Thorntons had opened the door of their cabin for the last time.

Their cabin.

Not for much longer.

Elizabeth remained in bed but looked around the small room. The sunlight was streaming in the window and her eyes followed the path of the sun's rays splayed along the floor until they came to rest where the floor met the far bedroom wall.

The small dresser that had once been there was already loaded onto the wagon ready to be taken to the train station. Elizabeth noticed the tiny mouse hole that, until yesterday, had been hidden by the piece of furniture. _So that's why Comet always likes to sleep there on the floor._

The curtains were packed away in a crate with the dishes, adding extra protection so the china plates and bowls wouldn't chip when they were jostled against each other. The open closet door revealed only a few items on hangars. The rest of their clothes were already packed away in another crate. They had left out one suitcase each. Just big enough to pack the clothes they would need for the next few days. The bed and mattress would remain for the new tenants, as would a few pieces of other furniture.

* * *

Today was their last day in this cabin.

It had been four months since Elizabeth had been shot and had almost died in the brutal cold early spring weather.

Three months since she had planted a garden outside the cabin, and Jack had sketched on her body in the warm afternoon sun and then had taken her to bed.

Two months since they had testified against the trio of Emily, Bruce and Sam.

Their bruises and aches had healed.

Spring had changed to early summer.

The chrysalis had broken open and butterfly had emerged, much to the delight of the school children.

The Orders on official letterhead of the Northwest Mounties had arrived. Notifying the newly promoted Sergeant Jack Thornton that it was time to report to his new assignment.

* * *

"All ready?" Jack asked as he carried the last of their items to the front door.

Elizabeth looked around the bare kitchen. They had never gotten around to fixing the crack in the window pane. Or the burn mark she had made on the counter when she placed the hot pot of potatoes down without a trivet. She thought about how many meals she had made in this small room and turned away wistfully. "Yeah. Let me just grab my purse from the bedroom."

"Ready", she announced as she picked up her purse off the bed.

Jack followed her to the bedroom and stood in the doorway.

"I think we should make love one last time before we leave", Jack said nonchalantly as he leaned against the doorframe. Looking at the bare mattress and then at her."Don't you? For old time's sake", he added.

* * *

Forty five minutes later, a smiling Jack locked the door to the cabin and threw their suitcases in the back of the wagon.

"Goodbye, cabin! Goodbye, garden!" Elizabeth called out joyfully as she climbed up onto the bench seat.

The garden had turned out better than she imagined. Jack had been right when he told her to plant a row of chives between the lettuce to keep away aphids. She only wished that she had paid more attention to the vegetable book instructions that she should stagger the planting time of the lettuce plants. After four days of eating lettuce at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Jack had refused to eat another leaf. He had picked the abundance of lettuce still left in the garden and taken it all to school where he handed it out to the students as they left at the end of the school day.

The carrots and other vegetable were still mostly in the ground. Waiting for the new tenants to arrive. Last night, Elizabeth had told Abigail that until someone moved in, she should come pick whatever she wanted to use at the Café.

"Who would have ever thought you'd be selling Elizabeth's food at the Café", Jack had chuckled to Abigail.

* * *

"I'm leaving. I'm really leaving", Elizabeth said in disbelief as she took a block of cheese out of Abigail's icebox and stuffed it in the basket with the apples and sandwiches for the long trip.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Elizabeth asked curiously as she looked over her shoulder at Abigail, who was standing by the table fingering the tablecloth absent-mindedly.

"For giving me my life back." Abigail's voice began to crack. She worried that she wouldn't be able to get the words out as she hastily wiped away a tear.

"My life was falling apart when you first came to town. . . . Noah. . . . Peter. . . . I had nothing left. I tried to put on a brave face each day. But I was barely making it. I helped teach the school children. I cleaned the row house. I went to church and supported the other wives."

Abigail's voice became barely a whisper. "But I was barely making it."

"Oh, Abigail", Elizabeth began, with tears forming in her own eyes. "You would have been okay", she said reassuringly.

"No, I wouldn't have been. . . . You gave me a reason to get up in the morning. Someone had to keep you from burning down the place. And feed you. And teach you how to wash clothes." Abigail laughed even as tears ran down her face.

"I'm not going forever!" Elizabeth wailed as she threw her arms around Abigail.

* * *

"I turned over the keys to the new Constable. Is Elizabeth around? We need to get going if we're going to make it to the train station in plenty of time." Jack asked as he walked into the Café and gave Abigail a hug.

"She went to the Saloon. She said she wanted to say goodbye."

"Goodbye? We've said goodbye to everyone in town at least three times. And the schoolhouse twice", Jack said with a laugh.

"She's sentimental." Abigail responded with a smile. "And so am I. I can't tell you how much I'm going to miss the two of you."

"The assignment's just for 12 months. We'll try and get stationed here again after that", Jack said when he saw Abigail's eyes well up with tears.

"She's not just my friend. She's like a daughter to me," Abigail said as she lifted her apron to her face and wiped her eyes.

* * *

Walking down the street towards the saloon, Jack thought back to his very first week living in the saloon. He had been so hard-headed. Upset about not getting his assignment to Cape Fullerton. Totally unaware of what life had in store for him.

He stopped in the doorway of the Saloon when he saw Elizabeth standing by the chalkboard, which the town mothers had brought from the schoolhouse for last night's festivities. A sweet reminder of Elizabeth's early days in town. She had gushed when she read all the goodbye wishes which her students had written on it.

As he watched her reading the messages again, Jack figured that he'd better get Elizabeth out of the Saloon before she insisted he pick up the chalkboard and shove it onto the already overflowing wagon to take with them.

When she heard his footsteps, Elizabeth turned around and smiled.

"I was just thinking back. It's so quiet and empty now. Just like the first time we met. When it was just the two of us here."

"And I told you that you wouldn't last a month in a town like this."

"And I told you to settle in and get used to a steady diet of coal dust." Elizabeth laughed.

"I should have realized right then and there that you were smarter than me. You were right. We were here for a good long while."

Jack walked across the Saloon and picked up each of Elizabeth's hands in his, intertwining their fingers.

"I told you I don't run from a challenge", Elizabeth said proudly.

Jack grinned as he swung their arms gently back and forth. "I think we've faced our challenges pretty well together."

"I like holding hands with you", Elizabeth said sweetly as she looked down at their clasped palms.

Jack kept holding one hand, but released the other and moved a finger to her face. He softly traced a pattern along Elizabeth's cheek, his finger ending up on her lips. She parted them slightly, taking the tip of Jack's finger into her warm mouth.

Jack sighed. "Oh, Elizabeth, the things you do to me."

"I'm glad to see that I've made such an impression on you", she said with a pleased smile as he reluctantly removed his finger.

"You been thinking about all our times here?" Jack asked as he looked around the room.

"Yeah. Just saying goodbye to the place and enjoying the good memories. I was standing right over there the first time you admired my teaching methods." She nodded across the room.

"When was that?" Jack asked curiously.

"When I was standing on the table with my hair down explaining gravity."

Jack chuckled. "I'm not so sure if I was admiring your teaching methods. I kind of liked how you looked up there."

Elizabeth looked around the Saloon. "I'm going to miss this place."

"Me too."

"We were sitting right there, the first time we shared a bowl of chili", Elizabeth said as she moved away from Jack and walked to a table ten feet away.

Jack stepped across the floor. "You were standing right here when I came back from Rock Creek and saw you for the first time in weeks."

"At my welcome back party. And I said 'Aren't you going to ask me to dance? And you said 'No'!"

Jack grinned. "God, I wanted to kiss you so badly. And this place was full of people."

"Over there is where you picked up the gopher snake while I stood up on a chair in my terrified state." Elizabeth looked to the back of the room where she used to stand when instructing the students.

"I remember. That was another time I wanted to pick you up in my arms", he said with a slight shake of his head and a laugh.

"Darn schoolkids being in the room", she replied with a grin.

Jack smiled. "So, we're doing this again." He thought of the last time they had walked around the room reminiscing. "Tell me more."

Elizabeth walked back over to him again, standing so close he could smell her perfume.

"This is where I was standing when I told you that you needed to think long and hard about what you wanted. Who you wanted", she reminded him.

"I told you I would. But truthfully, it took me less than a second to know it was you I wanted."

"But on the hilltop you told me that you had thought long and hard about it!" Elizabeth protested.

Jack shrugged. "I exaggerated."

Jack moved around the room looking for another memorable spot. Giving the Saloon a proper goodbye.

"I know this is your favorite spot", he announced when he stood in the area where he had proposed.

"Perhaps", she said with a sly grin.

"Perhaps? You mean you have another favorite spot?" he asked in a humorous voice. "I highly doubt that."

Elizabeth laughed. "You'll have to find it."

Jack raised his eyebrows curiously at her, and then looked around the room, wondering what he had forgotten. He weaved between the tables. Approached the bar. The dartboard. The bottom of the staircase. As he continued to slowly walk the room, Elizabeth watched him with a smile on her lips.

"Right there", Elizabeth said suddenly.

Jack stopped moving. "Right here? What happened here?" he asked inquisitively.

"Right there", she said again with a twinkle in her eyes.

"What? What happened here?" he asked again with a furrowed brow.

"That very spot you're standing in. . . .That's where you were standing when I told you that you were going to be a father for the first time."

 **The End of Vignette 8**

 **Dear Readers: Thanks for joining me on this ride!**

 **P.S. Did you figure out the reason for this chapter's title? Hint: Think of the Gypsy in Vignette #4.**

 **P.S.S. Don't forget to check out my other story, "Reversal of Fortune", which I wrote under the name woolenslipper to differentiate it from my vignettes. It's light and fun. Enjoy!**


	10. Chapter 10 - postscript

Post Script

Dear Readers:

What happens to Jack and Elizabeth when they arrive at Jack's new posting?

What fate greets them in the mysterious new town?

Find out in " **Vignette 9 –The Lingering Scent of Lavender** ", **followed by "Vignette 10 - Snowfall", and the latest "Vignette 11 - Wishes and the Necessary Vessel."**

Enjoy!


End file.
